The Icy Reaper
by SquamousEpithelium
Summary: The Grim Reaper is recruited by the Guardians to help defeat Pitch. Unfortunately he shows a reluctance even greater then that which Jack showed... and Bunnymund seems to loath him. Changes between 1st and 3rd person. Please review as I'm starting to go mad waiting.
1. Chapter 1: Frost and the Reaper

The Icy Reaper

* * *

I am the Grim Reaper, some call me Shinigami, El Muerto, He-Who-Rides-The-Pale-Horse, The Final Truth, The Angel of Death, Abaddon, Thanatos, but to my friends (not that I have any as I don't trust them) I'm know just as Death. I've lived for centuries, as long as Humans have been able to comprehend the idea that one day they might not be alive. Interestingly, it took them a surprisingly long time to realise this.

It's my duty to ushure souls from this world into the next and, quite frankly, I enjoy it. It's a pleasant job, you met a lot of interesting people and you get to see the world. A nice sharp scythe and a long black cloak are all I need to complete my image. On the day I became Death, I found my scythe and became immediately attached to it. A week or so after this, I decided to make myself a cloak to cover myself up.

Unfortunately, one cold winter, my peaceful job moving souls across the dimensions was rudely interrupted by a mischievous little bastard whom I've desperately wanted to get my hands on for 300 years. His name... is Jack Frost.

* * *

It was a particularly cold evening in a small town in the middle of nowhere in particular. All I knew was that it was called Burgess. I smiled to myself. I had met Thaddeus Burgess himself. Not a particularly forward thinking man, but that was his problem not mine.

I lent back on my scythe in the middle of the alley I was standing in. An old woman had just died peacefully of old age (94 to be precise.) Her name had been Aracelia Fortescue. A peaceful death always made me happy because I could reassure the deceased that they had lived a good and full life... usually.

I reached into my cloak, took out a large, oak hourglass from the depths of my deepest pocket and examined it. It was decorated nicely with swirling lines inlade with silver and the name on the brass plaque on the base read "Bertram Holmes." The golden sand was rapidly running out. I estimated another hour of life at the best for this man. I stowed the hourglass away back into my cloak, picked up my scythe and began to walk down the alley I was standing in.

It was then I felt the Life energy behind me. No Human could detect me until they died so this meant that I was being pursued by an immortal. I came to a halt. A sly grin spread across my face. "Don't you know it's impolite to sneak up on people?" I said. _**'Spirit Snare'**_ I yelled. I whipped around and hurled the death net into the shadows, its bonds completely unbreakable. I heard it wrap around something and then a satisfying grunt and slam when a body hit the ground. I stepped forward.

The figure was face-down and bound like a turkey in the net which was crackling with blue lines of electricity. I placed my foot underneath the body and kicked it over. A teenage boy with white hair, a blue hoodie, brown trousers and no shoes looked up at me unable to make a sound because one of the ropes was pulled tight across his mouth. I had no trouble recognising this guy whatsoever.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Jackson Overland Frost." I remember him extremely clearly indeed; I had been robbed of this particular soul many years ago. The Man-in-the-Moon had resserrected him, snatching his soul away from me. I snapped my fingers and the net binding Jack became one single rope which flew up my sleeve and landed in one of the internal pockets.

Frost pulled himself to his feet and gave me a grin that didn't extend to his eyes which remained angry. "To my friends, I'm just Jack." I raised an eyebrow. "To your friends? So what do I call you then?" I asked sarcastically. "Ha ha" Jack said un-enthusiastically.

"Over three hundred years of existence and when I finally begin to enjoy my life, you decide to rear your handsome but extremely annoying head." I looked him over. He was handsome, there were few could deny it... it was then I realised in what direction I was thinking and mentally scolded myself.

"So what do you want?" I said leaning back against the wall of the alley, raising an eyebrow. "I hope you realise that I'm a very busy person. I've got to attend 4 separate deaths by old age, two car crashes, a road-side bomb and 16 alcohol poisonings, so get it over with quickly." Jack dusted himself off and said "It's official business." I raised an eyebrow. "Official business? What, did you set up a market for frozen foods?" I chuckled lightly at my own joke.

I picked up my scythe and twirled it lightly through the air. It left a thin blue line behind it in the air which shimmered like a light underneath a cave ravine. I hoped this would impress Jack, but as I expected it didn't. 'I've seen more interesting stuff,' Jack said. 'FOOL!' I yelled pointing my scythe at him. Jack jumped. 'Where'd you get that?' 'I saw it on a T.V. show once,' I said.

'So what about this official business about?' I asked. 'It's important,' Jack said. If he thought that would be enough to grab my interest, he was wildly mistaken. "Well, if you're not going to be any more specific then that, I hope you don't mind, but some of us actually have proper business to attend to. Farewell to you, you antagonizing adolescent." I turned to leave.

"Now boys!" Jack yelled. I whipped around, but before I could do anything, two Yeti's appeared out of nowhere, grabbed me by the arms and thrust me into a sack. Once I was inside the sack, the string around the top was pulled tight.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Frost!?" I yelled through the sack. "You need to come with me, by any means necessary. NOW!" he yelled. I heard a whoosh and saw through the fabric, a flash. I was then thrown through the air. I felt a sensation as if I was traveling through a waterfall, but I emerged quite warm and dry on the other side. WHAM. I hit the ground hard.

"He's here" I heard whispered not far off. Clatter. My scythe must have hit the ground next to me.

"I've got him" I heard Jack say suddenly in an overly confident voice. "It was easy, he didn't put up much trouble. I don't know why people are so afraid of him." That cocky remark was a bit too much to put up with. I burst out of the sack in a rage of fire which fell into cinders. I whipped round and saw Jack who looked shocked and scared.

"Ah, Reaper, at last you've arrived" came a voice with a strong Russian accent. I turned slowly. In front of me was a massive man with a long white beard and a red suit. He had tattoos on his arms one read "Naughty" and the other "Nice." "Oh god," I groaned, "Not you." North raised his arms in welcome. "Welcome to the North Pole."


	2. Chapter 2: The Confrontation

Chapter 2: The Confrontation.

* * *

I gazed up at the tall figure of North standing up in front of me. He was giving one of his encouraging smiles, but after attempting to be bribed for people's lives for over a thousand years, that sort of thing doesn't work on me. I gave a quick glance around the room. Sandy the Sandman was standing behind North holding a goblet of wine. He gave me a cheery wave which I ignored. Hovering (literally) over North's shoulder was Toothiana the Tooth Fairy. She smiled showing brilliant teeth of which I refused take any notice of. Leaning against the fireplace was Bunnymund the Easter Rabbit. He looked the least pleased of all to see me. I glared at him, and he glared back.

I took a quick glance around the room. Behind me was a control panel that was facing a massive globe of the world. On the globe were thousands of glittering golden specks. I looked up. A massive window faced the sky showing the full moon against the back drop of stars. "The Observatory" I thought. "He only uses this for official business." I turned back to North.

I held out my hand and instantly, my scythe leapt into my hand, leaving a fine trail of violet sparks in it's wake. "Well?" I said, raising an eyebrow. A brief look of confusion flashed across North's face. "Well what?" He asked. "Well, what am I doing here?" I demanded, none too gently.

Before North could answer, I lost interest, turned away from him and glared daggers at Jack instead. He attempted to smirk, but it looked more like a grimace.

"Well, look at you five all together" I said strolling around the room. "I must have done something very wrong indeed if you're all taking an interest."

An elf offered a plate of cookies to me. I snapped my fingers and instantly it passed out cold. The plate hit the ground and shattered sending cookies scattering across the floor. I glanced over my shoulder. All five of the Guardians looked a little shocked which I took great pleasure in seeing.

A thought occurred to me. "Am I on the naughty list?" I asked turning to face them all. North's expression of shock turned to one of laughter. "_On _naughty list?" He chuckled. "You see books there" he said gesturing to a particular shelf holding fifteen separate tomes. "Each and every single one is filled with the naughty things that you've done in your lifetime."

I smiled, feeling not a little pride.

"But no matter, we over-look. We are wiping clean the slate." My smile vanished. "How come?" I asked trying hard to hide my disappointment. "Very good question indeed" Bunnymund said looking rather displeased. North ignored him.

"I'll tell you how come" He said, his voice increasing in volume. "Now, _**YOU ARE**** GUARDIAN!"**_He roared in delight.

Two yeti's behind him held up two large sparklers and the elves surrounding us began to play brass instruments.

Tooth raised her arms in delight, Sandy lifted his goblet, North beamed, Bunnymund looked exasperated and Jack simply stood in the background. I glared at them. Their smiles faltered.

"NO" I bellowed. I held out my scythe and swung it round in a sharp circle. Instantly all of the elves and yeti's in the vicinity dropped down dead. Bunny, Tooth, Sandy, North and Jack were flung backwards into the wall by the blast of energy.

"What did you do!?" North bellowed. "They won't be dead for long, it's not their time" I said, unconcerned. Turning back to North, I said "What the hell makes you think that I, of all people, want to be a Guardian?" North smiled nervously. "Of course you do. MUSIC" He roared. A surviving elf raised a trumpet to its lips.

"If you dare..." I said brandishing my scythe at it. The elf gulped, dropped the trumpet and ran away as fast as its miniscule legs could carry it. I kicked the trumpet across the floor.

"You don't want me as a guardian" I said leaning on the control panel opposite the globe. "You're happiness and fun-times, especially you" I said gesturing at Jack who smiled. "I, on the other hand, am hard-work and deadlines. I cannot be a Guardian."

Tooth flew up to me and gestured to the globe behind me. "You see the lights on the globe. Each and every single one of them is a child..." I looked at the glittering golden specks of light on the globe. "and it is our duty to protect them." I looked at her, no longer smiling.

"But I cannot. I can only be there at the end, to make the end" I said and raised my scythe. Several of the golden lights disappeared. Bunnymund leapt forward. "What did you do that for?!" He bellowed. "I didn't" I said. "No one can die of death. They died of causes that only Humans can bring. I have no influence." I looked at the Pooka who looked back at me and their was undiluted loathing in his gaze. I knew why.

I turned away. "Now, if you don't mind..." I said to North. "as you have disrupted the duty and potentially messed with the very nature of causality itself, I am going to bed ." I marched off down the corridors and quickly found the guest rooms. I selected my room, locked the door, fell fully clothed onto the mattress and fell asleep for the first time in 430 years.


	3. Chapter 3: Breakfast

Chapter 3: Breakfast

First Person. _Third Person._

* * *

I awoke next morning a a still dark sky. It was only to be expected at these latitudes, at this time of year.

I got up and looked around the room. It was rather elegantly constructed. All the furniture was made out of warm ice and the bed was covered with warm furs. Against the wall was a desk which stood under a window which over looked the snow fields of the North pole. On the horizon, I could still see the Moon.

I was never impressed by the full moon, I'd seen it over a thousand times in my "life" if you could call it that. More like a lifetime of service and suffering. I turned away.

A bright silvery light suddenly filled the room. I turned back around. The moon had grown to fill the horizon.

"Oh, it's you MiM" I said, "What do you want?"

"..."

"I see. I don't care about what they think."

"..."

"What!?"

"..."

"It was your idea!?"

"..."

"I don't f*****g care."

"..."

"No, I'm not doing it."

"..."

"No"

"..."

"NO!"

"..."

"If I do, will you stop bothering me?"

"..."

"Fine, but I'm doing this against my better judgement." I turned on my heel, grabbed my scythe and a fresh cloak and opened the door. I sniffed the air; I could detect the scent of bacon, sausages and coffee down the hall. For the first time in over a hundred years, I was starving. I hurried down the hall.

* * *

_North sat at the breakfast table, toying with a mince pie. Bunnymund sat next to him gnawing on a carrot. Tooth just stared at her muffins. Sandy slowly stirred his porridge around with a dreamsand spoon. Only Jack was properly eating, tucking into sausage, eggs and bacon, albeit rather slowly. _

_North stopped toying with the mince pie and finally said "Well, what do we do now? We've failed MiM." _

_"Don't blame yourself North" Bunnymund said, placing his paw on North's shoulder. "God knows he a jumped up little git, but still..." He patted North's shoulder "It's not your fault." _

_Jack swallowed his mouthful of sausage and said "Still, with Death against us and Pitch back, how are we supposed to defeat him this time?" _

_Sandy clicked his fingers and a sand image of the moon appeared above his head. Light drifted from the moon and formed a figure none of them had ever seen. The figure was shaking hands with North. _

_"Are you suggesting we ask MiM to find someone else?" Tooth asked. "There won't be any need for that" said a voice. _

_All five Guardians swiveled around on their chairs to face the breakfast room door. Grim was standing there. "Well, what's for breakfast?"_

* * *

I stood there looking at them. There was silence for a few moments and then Jack said "Are you saying your going to help us after all?" I gritted my teeth, swallowed my pride and said "Yes."

"WOO HOO!" Tooth lept into the air, flew straight towards me and, before I could stop her, embraced me strongly in her arms. "Tooff" I tried to say with my head pressed into her abdomen "TOOFF, LT GOA ME!" She released me. "Oh, sorry."

I rolled my eyes. Then came the really tricky part. I took a deep breath, walked up to North and said "North, I'm..." I gulped and tried again "I'm sorry."

North beamed and raised his arms to give me a bear hug, but I quickly pressed a finger into his chest. "If you even dream about it..." I said threateningly, but I couldn't resist smiling.

Everyone around the table looked happy and relieved... with one exception. Bunny glowered at me. How was I going to make up with him... especially after what had happened.

"Come on, Grim, join in" North said gesturing to the table. I took a seat next to Jack who quickly averted his eyes. I wondered why.

"Jack, pass the coffee please" I asked politely as I possibly could. Jack passed the coffee jug to me briefly glancing at me. As I took it from him, I noticed him blush slightly. I raised an eyebrow. The Spirit of Winter shouldn't blush red, surely.

* * *

During breakfast, I managed to polish off, nine rashers of bacon (smoked and unsmoked) eighteen in total, seventeen sausages, six pancakes drizzled with honey, two bowls of porridge topped with sugar, four boiled eggs, twenty slices of toast, five bowls of cornflakes, three slices of fried bread, a pot of tea and four cups of coffee.

Once I finished, I looked up and saw all of the guardians gaping at me in shock. "What?" I asked.

"You..." Jack tried to say, but instead of speaking he just pointed to all of the plates, bowls, cups, the two empty teapots and the eggcup.

Tooth was the first to recover. "You ate every last scrap of food in the North pole. How do you manage to keep it all down?" "Well, be fair Tooth..." I said in response, "I haven't eaten in over a hundred years, that's why people draw me as a skeleton." Sandy chuckled silently.

"Humph" came a voice. "And what are you humphing about?" I said to Bunnymund. "Nothing" he said bitterly, lazily leaning back in his chair and placing his feet on the table.

"Um, Bunny, that really isn't very hygienic" North said. Bunny ignored him. "Have you got something against me" I asked, fully knowing the answer.

Bunnymund ground his teeth. "You bloody well know the answer to that." "Maybe I do" I said folding my arms.

For a minute we glared daggers at each other. North, Tooth, Sandy and Jack kept glancing between us. "Do you think you can drop this, whatever it is?" North asked hesitantly.

"Sure" Bunny said not taking his eyes off me. "I'm fine with this arrogant little brat."

I narrowed my eyes. "At least I'm not a stuck-up little kangaroo" I retorted.

Bunnymund lept to his feet and slammed his hands down on the table. "Is that a challenge!?" He demanded. "Maybe it is" I growled, jumping to my feet as well.

"Now, now" said Tooth trying to restore calm. We both ignored her.

"You want to go?" He roared. "Yeah, LETS GO RIGHT NOW!" I bellowed, snatching up my scythe. Bunny pulled out his boomerangs and exploding eggs.

"Lets settle this at the warren" Bunny said. I grinned evilly. Bunny glowered. North, Tooth and Sandy looked worried.

"Yeah" Jack yelled "Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight!" Everyone stared at him. Jack looked down at his hands turning red with embarrassment.


	4. Chapter 4: The Duel

Chapter 4: The Duel

* * *

"You can't do this, it's insane" North tried to convince me, but I took no notice.

"I am not backing down to that raggedy, old fur-ball" I snarled, throwing my cloak backwards where it was caught by Jack.

I pulled a smooth rock out of my pocket and started sharpening the scythe blade.

I marched through the warren, past the egg sentinels, who turned to look at me and on to the centre of the warren where a large space had been cleared for the duel. Bunnymund was standing in the middle holding his boomerangs.

He turned around. His eyebrows raised and his left ear twitched. "Ready mate..." he asked sarcastically "or are you gonna get cold feet when you realise you're battling a 6 foot, 1 inch rabbit with nerves of steel and a master of Tai Chi?" He flexed his muscles.

"Oh look at me, I'm fucking shaking" I said shaking my hands in pretence of fear.

Bunny growled. "Git!" he yelled. "Baggy arse!" "Oh Shag off!" "YOU WATCH YOUR FUCKING LANGUAGE IN MY PRESENCE!"

A ringing silence fell after our out-bursts. We simply glared into each others eyes, neither one of us wanting to blink first.

North stepped forward. "Sandy will be referee." Sandy floated over to us holding a dreamsand flag and wearing his pair of goggles.

North, Jack, Tooth and Baby Tooth had seated themselves on several large boulders on the edge of the arena. All four of them were looking extremely nervous, but for some reason Jack was only looking at me.

I returned my gaze to Bunnymund. Sandy was holding his flag in front of us. I saw Bunny's right paw grasping his boomerang and his left attempting to sneakily get one of his exploding eggs. My hand tightened on the handle of my scythe.

A number 3 appeared above Sandy's head. My eyes narrowed into two thin lines.

The 3 changed to 2. We braced up.

The 2 became 1. I took a deep breath. This was it.

0.

Sandy raised his flag and backed away fast and he had to because instantly Bunnymund had thrown his eggs at me. Quick as a flash, my scythe split the eggs into two. Bunny leapt into the air and threw his boomerangs. I leapt into the air at the same time, holding my body parallel to the ground. The two boomerangs missed me, one went over, the other under. I hit the ground in a crouched position and smiled evilly at Bunny who looked livid that his attack had missed me.

I heard a whoop. I looked and saw Jack clapping. I turned back to bunny and yelled and ducked, narrowly missing three egg-bombs. That was it. I dropped my scythe and reached into my pockets and pulled out two hourglass-bombs. "HA!" I roared and threw them straight at Bunnymund who was forced to throw more of his own eggs to avoid them. The two bombs crashed together and BOOM, their collision released a massive cloud of smoke.

Instantly I grabbed my scythe and leapt into the air and raised the scythe, ready to bring it down. As I passed through the cloud, I saw the shock and terror in Bunnymund's face. I brought the scythe slashing down, leaving it's usual trail of violet sparks. Crunch. It hit the earth. I snarled and cursed. Bunny had opened one of his tunnels and escaped down it. One of the egg-sentinels cheered.

"Ho, ho HO!" Bunny's voice came from behind me. I whipped around in time to see both of Bunny's boomerangs shooting straight at my head. I raised my scythe a swirled it in a fast circle. It formed a rudimentary shield, powerful enough to deflect the boomerangs into the undergrowth.

Bunnymund roared in anger. He then suddenly raised his arms and something grabbed my foot. I glanced down and saw a root twisting around my ankle. How could I have forgotten; Bunnymund could control plant growth. I slashed the root with my scythe. I turned... and faced a tree whipping it's branches angrily. Bunnymund cackled with laughter. Unfortunately for him, I also had a few trick up my sleeve. With a sound like a gunshot, the death net shot out of my pocket and wrapped itself around the tree and crushed it.

Bunny rage grew further and he snapped his fingers. Two massive egg sentinels charged me. I raised my hand... and sucked out the life that was in them. The sentinels stopped moving. With a swipe of my scythe, the two stone eggs were smashed into dust.

I snapped my fingers and the stone eggs flew back together, only this time they obeyed me. I ordered them to attack Bunnymund who was forced to use six of his egg bombs on the statues

I coiled like a ninja and threw my scythe like a boomerang, straight at Bunnymund. He tried to duck, but my scythe sliced across his shoulder and he screamed in agony as blood poured across his fur. The boomerang/scythe shot threw the air. I raised my arm to catch it, but an egg bomb hit it and it was sent spiralling into the warren. I glared at Bunny who was holding his blood soaked shoulder and looked drained, but he was grinning in triumph. "Nice try kangaroo, but not good enough" I snapped my fingers and the scythe instantly rushed back into my hand. I turned back to Bunnymund. Stupid mistake.

An egg-bomb hit my stomach and exploded taking a small amount of my midriff with it. I screamed as blood soaked the grass covered ground. Now I was angry. I lifted my hand like I was controlling a puppet... and my shed blood rushed into the air and formed a bright red bubble.

I briefly glanced at the Guardians. North looked horrified, Sandy terrified, Tooth screamed and Baby Tooth passed out. Jack then said "Whoa." I took a strange pleasure in seeing their horrified expressions. I turned back to Bunnymund and shot my blood straight at him as a massive whip. It struck him in the eye. He screamed and covered his eye which began bleeding profusely.

All of a sudden a boomerang struck the side of my head and I was flung sideways, my head bleeding. The blood whip disintegrated and splashed to the ground, soaking us both. I growled and glowered at Bunny who grabbed his boomerang. He grinned. I seized my scythe and rushed at him. Bunnymund grabbed his second boomerang and sprinted straight towards me. My scythe and his boomerang ready to strike.

"**STOOOOOP**" North bellowed, rushing forwards us. In a second Tooth descended on me and grabbed my arms. Sandy conjured his dreamsand whips and wrapped them around Bunny's arms. We still tried to get at each other no matter what.

**"ENOUGH" **North roared. Instantly me and Bunny stopped struggling. North's commanding voice would be enough to stop a herd of rampaging rhinos. "You two should be ashamed of yourselves." "I've got my hands full being ashamed of him" Bunny snarled. "YOU'VE GOT YOUR HANDS FULL WHEN YOU SCRATCH YOUR BA..." " SILENCE!" North roared. "Why are you two acting so immaturely? What do you two have against each other?"

Me and Bunny glowered at each other. "That is strictly between Bunny and myself" I said. North eyed us and then said "Come, we need to get you both back to the North pole to get you cleaned up." Bunny wrenched himself out of the dreamsand whips and said "I'll escort myself there." He patted the ground with his foot, opening his magical rabbit-hole and disappearing down it.

* * *

_Bunny sat alone in the infirmary nursing his shoulder and wearing an eyepatch over his swollen and scarlet eye. He was still cursing Death for the inflicted injuries. His boomerangs were coated in congealed blood and his egg-bombs had crumbled. He winced as he applied more disinfectant to the wound. There was a knock at the door. "What?" he snapped. The door opened and in came... Pitch. _

_"What the hell are you doing here?" Bunny growled. "I think you know that" said Pitch, his yellow eyes mere slits against his grey flesh. "I believe you hold a grudge against a certain... reaper." Bunnymund raised his eyebrow... the good one. "So what?" "You want rid of him and I want an ally" Pitch said with a slight amount of glee in his voice. _

_Bunny considered. On one hand, giving Death to Pitch would provide Pitch with an extremely powerful ally. It might make him unstoppable. On the other hand, Death would be unlikely to ally himself with Pitch, but that didn't mean the Bunny couldn't give him to Pitch. He would finally be rid of him. He looked at Pitch and opened his mouth to speak._

_Woosh. A flash of silver crossed Pitch's chest and he screamed and disintegrated. Behind the place where he had stood was Death. "I know we are enemies, but not I hope in the presence of an even greater enemy." Bunny hesitated then nodded. Death smiled. "How's your eye?" He asked. "Still stinging but getting better." Come here" Death said. _

_He placed one hand over Bunny's injured eye and with his other he made a complicated little wave. He then withdrew his hand. Bunnymund hesitated and then removed his eyepatch. His eye was completely healed. "How...?" He asked. "I'm Death, I can control life energy" Death said smiling. "Then why Grim?" "Though we loath each other, we are still allies. Oh and you can call me Death." Bunny eyes widened. He only allowed his friends to call him Death. _

_Death turned to leave, but then quickly turned on his heels."Might I just say, I thought that move with the plants was fantastic." Bunny was stunned; Death was paying him a compliment. "Thanks" He said "I thought you were brilliant avoiding the boomerangs. Not even Pitch's fearlings could do that." Death smiled. _

_North stood outside the door listening to the conversation. "Hmm" He said to himself "There is definatly something wrong with those two." He walked into the observatory. Tooth, Sandy and Jack were there discussing the duel. North cleared his throat to attract their attention. _

_"Grim and Bunny are two enemies that have been forced to work together. I want to find out what made them enemies in the first place. Jack, you seem to get on best with both of them, I want you to find out what happened." "But North..." Jack protested. "I don't want to hear it" North said, with such a finality that the subject was closed. "I want to know what happened." _


	5. Chapter 5: Evacuation

**_I wrote this chapter in a bit of a hurry, so forgive me if it isn't quite up to scratch._**

* * *

Chapter 5: Evacuation

I sat on top of my scythe, meditating. An important part of being the Grim Reaper is to keep peace of mind, otherwise you'll begin to have second thoughts which is not good for keeping the balance of life and death.

I breathed in and out slowly, keeping calm, staying impassive.

Behind my eyes, I saw a flash and stars. I was starting to have a vision.

I saw the whole world. I saw the Guardians. I saw... Pitch.

There was a sky battle raging. Hordes of fearlings charged at them, but the Guardians were still managing to hold them back although I could see that their strength was failing, their attacks were becoming more erratic and less powerful.

Pitch and his minions were gaining the upper hand. Pitch was drawing an arrow and aiming it at Sandy who hadn't noticed him. Jack had seen him.

Pitch let the arrow fly, but Jack flew in the way to stop it killing Sandy. It pierced his heart. Jack screamed and fell from the sky and out of sight. Pitch roared in triumph.

His minions soared into the sky as a great black wave. The remaining Guardians were forced to scatter. The fearling cloud overwhelmed the entire world. I awoke screaming on the floor of my bedroom.

My forehead was covered with sweat and my breath came in sharp bursts. I held up my hand; it was quivering. My heart was racing like I had just finished a triathlon in the middle of the african savannah without a single rest.

I heard the pounding of feet outside the door which burst open a second later. It was Jack. He looked terrified, but not in the way I expected. Normal fear after hearing someone scream is normally lightly tinged with curiosity. Jack just looked terrified and was breathing heavily, which means that he automatically jumped to the worst conclusion and people only do that with people they love, so... no, it couldn't be.

"What's wrong?" he yelled in panic. I slowly pulled myself to my feet with a little help from Jack. My scythe had fallen over when I had woken from the vision. I couldn't tell him. He would panic and I didn't want Jack to suffer any more terror.

"It doesn't matter" I said. I brushed myself down and picked up my scythe.

It was then that I noticed the fissure. The blade had cracked down the middle. If you looked closely you could see tiny red sparks as the microscopic imperfections in the crack rubbed against reality.

"I need to see North" I said. I pushed past Jack, through the open door and straight down the corridor.

* * *

"North..." I said, marching into the Observatory. North was sitting in an armchair in front of the fire, reading a book. I'd never seen him so relaxed. "I need to spe..." but before I could finish my sentence, there was a loud rumbling and the globe shook and the golden lights across it's surface flickered.

Instantaneously we were in action. North was standing by the console before anyone else had arrived. I was the second to join him. I heard a whoosh and Jack flew up to us staring at the globe.

I then heard a a slight sucking sound, and buzzing, whistling noise and a sound like falling sand. Bunnymund, Tooth and Sandy had come to see what was going on so I was able to draw one conclusion.

"You all felt the tremor" I said. It wasn't a question. "You were all out, so this thing must have been massive." I flicked a few controls. "What are y..." North began, but stopped when the globe turned and zoomed in on the North pole.

"How did you do that? I never knew it could do that." "It's showing live images" I said gesturing as the workshop came into view... and what we saw made all of our hearts stop dead; a was wave of black sand was washing over the snow fields.

"We'll never hold them back" Tooth said, her voice quiet with terror. "What do we do?" Jack said, staring at the globe. There was a rustling and we all turned to face Sandy. He conjured an image of an emergency exit sign.

"Are you suggesting we evacuate?" North whispered. "It's the only way, mate" Bunny said resting his paw on North's shoulder. North looked as if he was on the verge of tears.

"Never mind leaving the pole, how do we do it? They've surrounded us. We won't be able to take the sleigh and Sandy, me and Jack won't be able to fly out" Tooth said.

"We'll take my tunnels" Bunny said, tapping his foot on the ground. A Tunnel entrance opened, but instantly a rush of black sand poured out. Bunny quickly tapped his foot again and managed to close the tunnel.

"What do we do?" Jack cried in desperation. Black sand was starting to flow up the outside windows. I knew what to do. I had to reveal my greatest secret.

"I know how to get out" I said. All the Guardians turned to me. "How?" they all asked except for Sandy who simply made a question mark above his head. "I'll show you" I said and I snapped my fingers.

Instantaneously there was a flash and a shape appeared out of nowhere. It resolved itself in to a massive, pale green horse so large it could easily hold all six of us. "Hello Mildred" I said patting her sides. She snorted in recognition and pawed the ground. I turned to the Guardians and I was delighted to see that they were all looking shocked.

"You called her Mildred?" Jack asked. "Yeah... what of it?" I asked, looking perplexed. "It's just... nothing" he finished. I smiled.

"Everyone on board" I ordered. It was lucky that the small guardians could fly and the ones that couldn't were large enough to jump onto Mildred's back. "Hold tight!" I called backwards. "What to?" came Bunny's nervous voice. "Just an expression" I called back.

"HYAAA" I cried and with a massive whinny, Mildred shot straight through the hole in the Observatory roof. As we shot out, fearling charged at us. I swung my scythe sending sixty of them to oblivion. Mildred charged straight through their ranks blasting another hundred of them to black sand. I looked over my shoulder to check everyone was still there... and I saw Pitch riding on one of his fearlings. For a brief moment, our eyes connected and I saw, for an even briefer moment all the things he was prepared to do to gain power.

* * *

We shot through the night sky, heading to the Australian outback. Underneath it lay the warren, the home of Bunnymund. After the North Pole that was the safest place we could be.

Without a second of warning, a bolt of lightning struck Mildred who screeched, disintegrated and returned to the aether dimension. We all fell from the sky. I had been closest to the lightning and had been badly shocked. My vision began to go blurry.

North was luckily caught almost immediately by Sandy. Bunny fell a bit further and Tooth only just managed to grasp his paw.

I felt a pair of strong and cold hands grab me and before I blacked out, I could have sworn I felt a pair of soft and cold lips plant a kiss on my head.


	6. Chapter 6: The dreams of the Reaper

The Changing dreams of the Reaper

**Sorry, this one's a bit shorter than usual.**

* * *

I opened my eyes and for a moment I wondered if I had.

After a few seconds my sight began to return albeit very slowly. I sat up slowly as my head was pounding a little.

I saw that we had landed next to a large frozen pond in the middle of a forest. I lifted my hand and saw that it was slightly charred.

I turned my head a little and saw that the other Guardians had lit a small fire and were busy warming themselves. Sandy had conjured a large tent from his dreamsand, big enough to hold all six of us. A scent of faint chocolate pervaded the air. Bunnymund had managed to grab some of his chocolate easter eggs and the Guardians were clearly making them their supper, although I could see that none of them, not even Jack, were particularly interested.

I looked down and I saw that one of the eggs had been set aside for me. I reached out to take it and I immediately regretted it. A sharp jolt of pain shot down my arm and hit my spine and was redirected to my head straight away. I gasped in pain.

Immediately all five of the Guardians swiveled round to face me. Jack leapt straight over the fire and was the first to reach me which was strange as Sandy had been sitting closest to me and Jack had been on the opposite side of the fire. "What's wrong, are you alright?!" He yelled in panic. "I just fell five miles from the sky after being zapped by over ten thousand volts of pure lightning so, on reflection, no I'm not alright." I grasped my side and sat up straight wincing. I looked at my hand and saw that it was slightly stained with blood. "What happened?" I asked, scanning my blood-stained hand. I looked up in time to see that Jack was looking slightly guilty. "It was... my fault" he said, his voice quiet with shame "I crashed us into the ground when I tried to grab your scythe." At this I sat bolt upright. If my scythe was used by anyone except myself, it was programmed to self-destruct.

I looked over Jack's shoulder and was surprised to see that my scythe was standing by the tent, completely and utterly intact. I stood up and limped over to it. I picked it up and it was then that I saw something was wrong. The handle was warmer than usual and the blade was glowing turquoise instead of its normal shade of deep dark blue. I frowned. This was completely new to me. I tapped the blade, it rang with a C chord. It was supposed to ring with a wave of silence that should muffle any sound in the vicinity.

I turned to the Guardians. I tried to throw off the expression of worry that flashed over my face and failed miserably. I turned away and said "I'm going back to sleep. Sandy, could you give me a good dream?" Sandy nodded and waved his hand. A small trail of golden dreamsand followed me into the tent. I sat down on one of the beds, lied down and sleep engulfed me at the same time as the dreamsand.

Unfortunately the dream didn't turn out as Sandy had hoped.

Two hourglass's floated in front of me. One had a top and base of black stone. The supports were made of some kind of rusty, twisted black metal. The glass had small air bubbles trapped inside it. The second hourglass was made entirely of beautiful clear ice. The top of the hourglass was covered with snow and all over it was carved tiny snowflakes. They were both very low on sand.

All of a sudden there was a scraping and the lids of each fell off. A fine stream of golden sand rose from the ice hourglass and fell into the twisted black one. And when all the sand from the future bulb had vanished... something terrible happened.

The sand from the past bulb shot upwards through the present centre, out of the future bulb and into the other hourglass which was nearly full. Finally, all of the sand stopped flowing. The black hourglass was fill to the brim, while the icy hourglass was totally empty. They both turned slowly.

On the twisted, black hourglass, in black ink, was written the name "Kozmotis Pitchiner." Pitch! There was a cracking sound and the icy hourglass began to crack and suddenly shattered, but not before I managed to read the name "Jackson Overland Frost."

The dream changed. Now I was back in the Workshop at the North pole. Pitch was standing in front of the globe. Black sand was gently floating around the sphere and the golden lights were rapidly going out.

I saw Tooth's Palace crumble from the mountain, Bunny's Warren fell in upon itself, Sandy's Sandship disintegrated and the North Pole exploded.

Pitch stood above the ruins and roared with laughter. The nightmares filled the sky and blocked the moon. MiM was helpless. Lightning filled the sky. Then, I saw Pitch turn and smile at me, showing evil, pointed teeth.

The dream changed yet again. I was standing by the lake, the very lake we were camping by. Jack was standing in front of me. In front of us floated his hourglass. It was empty.

Jack looked shocked and a little sad. I raised my scythe. Jack shook his head pleadingly. "No" he said, tears starting to roll down his cheeks. "Please."

My scythe swung down and Jack fell backwards. He was dead before he hit the ground.

A mirror suddenly appeared in front of me. I looked into it... and screamed.

I was a skeleton. My flesh had vanished. I was wearing my black cloak and clutching my scythe. It dripped with Jack's blood. I screamed even louder. In my empty eye-sockets two, red lights flashed at me. My skull grinned at me. My skeletal reflection raised it's scythe and brought it slashing viciously down.

The Mirror Shattered.

I awoke, screaming. All six of the Guardians were standing around me expressions of panic on their faces. I sat up straight immediately making all of them jump. "What happened?" North asked, his eyes wide with concern. "You been twisting and turning for ten minutes, what happened?" "I..." I couldn't tell them, least of all Jack. But I knew what I had to do.

"I've got to go" I said getting to my feet. "Go? Go where?" Jack asked, looking stunned. "You can't go. what if Pitch finds you?" Tooth said. "Then I'll have to fight him off" I said simply. I snapped my fingers and Mildred appeared. "You've just had a nightmare mate" Bunny said "Ya can't go." I stopped walking towards Mildred. "I have to go" I said. "But..." "NOT ANOTHER WORD" I roared. All six guardians backed away. Then, Sandy drifted back towards me and conjured an image of a four-leafed clover. He meant "Good Luck." "Thanks Sandy" I said an hoisted my self onto Mildred's back.

"HA" I yelled. Mildred reared, and shot off into the night sky.

* * *

**I need help. I can't decide if there is going to be Jack/Death relationship.**

**Please vote. You have until 12PM 12/12/12.**

**I know.**

**To vote, just post a review.**


	7. Chapter 7: Death's House

Chapter 7: Death's House

I rode high into the sky. Clouds flew past and then suddenly vanished. I flew up higher. I looked down. The entire Earth lay below me, lights shining from the cities across the planet, much like the child lights on the globe in the North pole.

Mildred shot upwards even faster. I snapped my fingers.

The universe span, everything becoming a blur of colour.

When the world stop blurring Mildred was standing in the middle of a massive lawn in front of a small, thatched cottage with roses growing over the door. There was neither a moon or the sun in the sky, just a massive field of stars burning a bright as street lamps bathing the lawn in a soft white light.

I dismounted Mildred who wandered off into the stables. I strode across the lawn and entered the house. The interior and exterior of the house existed in different dimensions which basically means that it's bigger on the inside.

I strode across the hall and entered the Library. It was filled with shelves which towered higher than you could see and further into the distance than you could imagine. I stepped forward once I entered and said "**I WANT THE BOOKS OF KOZMOTIS PITCHINER AND JACKSON OVERLAND FROST" **and instantaneously, two vast tomes soared out of the shelves, one from high above and the other from the distant bookcases at the edge of the darkness.

I opened Pitch's one first. It didn't seem to have a beginning. No matter how far you turned back there was always another page. Even when you opened the cover, there were somehow pages that hadn't been there before you opened it. I gave up after a while and flicked forwards to the present. The words were strange; they seemed to be flickering and wobbling across the page as if they didn't want to be read. I flicked forwards into the future pages. There was one paragraph that took my interest in particular.

It read "Pitch hovers in the sky, watching as his fearlings battle the Guardians. The Sandman takes his interest. As the Sandman uses his dreamsand whips on the fearlings, Pitch creates a bow and arrow and aims it at his back. He releases the bow. The arrow soars across the sky. Jack Frost flies in front of it and it pierces his heart. Jack falls from the sky, screaming. The Guardians fly downwards to catch Jack. Pitch raises his arms, feeding on the fear of the Guardians and creates a vast cloud of nightmare-sand which race..."

I slammed the book shut. Just because it mimicked my vision, it didn't mean anything. The future was always changing. I threw it across the room, but before it could hit the ground it soared into the air and returned to its shelf.

I took Jack's book and opened it. I flicked forward a few hundred pages until I found the present page... and what I read made my eyebrows raise.

I looked up. "Holy god!" I flicked forward into the future pages. I found the right place and read the paragraph.

"Jack battles hard. He overcomes six fearlings in one ice blast. He sees Pitch floating high in the sky. He sees him look at Sandy. He sees Pitch draw a bow and arrow. Jack flies forward to stop him. Jack is too late as Pitch has already released the arrow. Jack flies in its way to stop it striking Sandy. The arrow pierces his Heart. Jack screams and falls from the sky. The ground comes closer and closer. Jack falls through the branches of the trees and lands hard on the frozen surface of the lake. His blood stains the surface. Jack's breath becomes ragged and rasped. His eyes begin to roll up into..."

I slammed the book shut even harder than I had Pitch's and I threw it to the ground in rage which quickly turned to panic and then dispar. Jack was going to die. There was one way to find out.

I sprinted out of the Library across the hall and into the Hourglass room.

This room was even larger than the Library. The shelves stretched even higher then the bookcases. On every shelf was an Hourglass. In many, the sand was flowing. Some had no sand in the top bulb. These were the dead. Some had no sand in the bottom bulb. These were children who hadn't been born yet. Some hourglasses had no sand in them at all. These were the people that hadn't even been conceived yet. In some the top bulbs were filling. These belong to the developing babies in their mother's womb's.

I strode across the chambers and found another door. This one was made of grand mahogany and had golden hinges and handle. There was a platinum plaque which read "The Immortals."

I pushed the door opened. Beyond was a circular room dominated in the middle by a massive hourglass stretching so high that you couldn't see the top. The base was made of moon rock and the supports silver. If you squinted hard enough you could just make out the name "Tsar Lunar." One day even the Man-in-the-Moon would die. Now that would be a tricky job.

I walked around the circumference. Behind MiM's hourglass was a small shelf holding eight hourglasses.

I looked curiously at the nearest and picked it up. It was so small it could fit it in the palm of my hand. It was just a pair of bulbs, lacking base, top, supports and when I looked close it was even lacking sand. I couldn't see the name. I put it back down.

The next Hourglass was much more recognisable. This one had a base of grass. It's top was covered with coloured eggs and two of supports were a pair of boomerangs. The other two were rabbit ears. I couldn't resist laughing. The name read "E. Aster Bunnymund."

The hourglass next to Bunny's was obviously North's. Aside from reading "Nicholas St North" the supports were made of presents and the top was a christmas tree.

The hourglass next to this one was completely made out of teeth except for the top which was decorated with shimmering iridescent blue and green feathers and the name was "Toothiana."

The next sand timer took me by surprise. It was completely made of golden dream-sand except for the bulbs so it was quite difficult to make out the life-sand inside. This belonged to "Sanderson ManSnoozie."

It was then that I noticed the next two hourglasses. One of black stone and twisted metal, the other of snow and ice. "Kozmotis Pitchiner" and "Jackson Overland Frost".

"Ah ha" I said. I picked up the two and saw that both were very low on sand. I then saw that sand was leaching out of Jack's life timer into Pitch's. I quickly pulled them apart. Sand was still leaching out of Jack's and into Pitch's, but it was a little slower.

I had an idea. All I had to do was carry Jack's hourglass around with me. It wouldn't stop the leaching process, but it would dramatically slow it down.

I put down Pitch's hourglass, stowed Jack's away in my cloak and sprinted out of the door, through the hourglass room, across the hall and onto the lawn. I whistled and Mildred rushed up to me. I mounted her and snapped my fingers.

The world blurred and Mildred was suddenly running through space heading back to Earth. As we reentered the atmosphere, I began to feel the heat, not that it would affect either of us. BANG. There was a sonic boom as we hit the stratosphere. The ground was rushing towards us.

With a crash we hit the ground. Mildred vanished.

I got to my feet, brushed myself off and smiled at the Guardians who had been roasting marshmallows and were now looking stunned. Sandy's marshmallow caught fire.


	8. Chapter 8: The Bloody Moon

Chapter 8: The Bloody Moon

* * *

I woke up the following morning to glittering, golden sunlight. This was mainly because the light was filtering through Sandy's dreamsand tent walls.

I lay down gazing at the ceiling, thinking. Jack was in danger of imminent death. I pulled out his hourglass. His sand levels was slightly lower than yesterday.

Suddenly I noticed something. I pulled the hourglass close to my eyes. A small chip had appeared in the surface. My blood ran cold. I gently put the hourglass back down.

I sat up and heard the running of feet. My head whipped around in time to see a small cloud of snowflakes. So now Jack was spying on me now, was he?

I got up, pulled on my cloak, slipped on my shoes, picked up my scythe (which still felt warmer than usual) and exited the tent.

Tooth was clearing up the fire of the previous night. Sandy was just about to pack up the tent. He waved his hand and the tent became a mass of dreamsand which dissipated in the air. North and Bunny were conversing in low voices. Jack was standing by the lake with his back to me.

"Well, how is everyone this morning?" I asked. Sandy turned to me and nodded. Tooth said "Alright thanks." North and Bunny ignored me and kept conversing. Jack turned to me and said "Much better thanks." I saw him blush even more so. I was really starting to have suspicions about him.

All of a sudden a tinkling sound filled the air. We all turned our heads skywards. North's sleigh and all of his reindeer were soaring down into the clearing and, with a crash, they hit the surface of the lake and skidded towards us stopping just short of Bunny's foot. There were ten seconds of complete silence.

In ten minutes we were soaring through the cloud bank, the sun blazing over head.

North pulled out his magical snow-globe and was just about to whisper the destination to it when a solid mass of black sand rushed out of nowhere.

Instantly we were in action. "Ha HA!" North yelled brandishing his swords and swiping at the fearlings. "Ho, Ho, HO" Bunnymund roared in ecstasy. He seemed delighted to be in the battle again. He flung forward his egg-grenades and boomerangs taking out several dozen fearlings. Tooth flew off with her mini-fairies and began to launch her own attack. Sandy leapt onto a cloud of dreamsand, conjured his dreamsand whips and joined Tooth in the attack. Jack leapt into the air and began slashing his staff freezing many of the fearlings.

I grabbed my scythe and snapped my fingers and Mildred appeared. I jumped onto her back and she galloped off into the battle.

All of a sudden I saw Pitch. For the briefest second we stared into each others eyes... and then we charged. Pitch drew for his massive axe and raised it. I brandished my scythe. We slashed our weapons together.

The sound of the collision was tremendous. Sparks of every colour flew across the sky. If anyone had been looking from below they would have thought that there was some sort of firework display going on up above.

Pitch drew back his axe for another attack. "You can't stop me, boy" he laughed. "No one calls me boy and gets away with it!" I roared.

I brandished my scythe and started swiping with as much ferocity as I could muster. Pitch's laughing face turned to alarm as he tried to block my attacks.

My scythe slashed straight through the axe handle and it disintegrated. Without wasting a second, I brought my scythe down to Pitch. It missed him but destroyed his riding fearling and disintegrated. Pitch fell from the sky and vanished. I knew he wasn't dead though.

It was then that I noticed that the scythe handle was feeling distinctly warm. I glanced at the blade. It was shimmering green. I was now feeling very worried.

_Pitch was clutching his side in pain. He had landed on a very sharp rock and was bleeding a little. He cursed the Grim Reaper for his actions, but he had no reason to feel angry for long. He smiled behind his pain. "They will regret ever standing against me" he cackled._

_In the House of Death, within the immortal section of the hourglass room, Pitch's hourglass shimmered ever so slightly... and black sand leached from the black metal and stone of the hourglass. The sand fell to the ground and began to curl upwards around one particular hourglass. The name on it read "Tsar Lunar."_

We landed that night in the middle of a desert. The full moon gleamed overhead. Sandy immediately set to work creating a tent for us to sleep in and a stable for the reindeer. There was no wood to create a fire and the desert gets very cold at night and Jack Frost didn't help matters.

"That was lucky" I said. "Quite so" North said examining his swords. Tooth was dusting nightmare sand off her feathers. Sandy had fallen asleep.

"So what do we do now?" Jack asked. "I think that what we should do is to get to the warren mate" said Bunnymund. "Once we're there, we should be able to AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!"

All six of us screamed and clutched our heads. I felt a headache as powerful as a migraine and with the abilities of an ice cream-headache. Squinting through my clouded eyes I saw that the surrounding area had been washed with a red light. I looked upwards... and what I saw was the most terrible thing I had ever seen.

_Pitch screamed with laughter in his cave below the surface. Though he could still feel the terrible pain in his head himself, he felt ecstatic, happier than he had ever been in centuries. Pitch's horrible laughter echoed through the caverns, a truly horrific sound._

"That's impossible" North said staring skywards. "Saying that won't make it any less so" I said. "But how... how can it be?" Tooth whispered, her voice quivering.

High above us was the Moon, but not as I had ever seen in all of my three thousand years.

The Moon had turned blood red. This was why we were suddenly in pain. We drew our power from the belief of the children, and we drew our life from the Moon and if the Moon failed we would go with it.

_"That's enough now" said Pitch. "Fear has spread far enough now, the Moon can change back... for now."_

All of a sudden, the blood red Moon returned to it's normal shade of white and light silver. All six of us stared at it.

"This is nothing like I have ever seen before" North said. "Could it be Pitch?" Jack asked not taking his eyes off the moon. "Nah, I can't be mate" Bunnymund said. "Not even Pitch has power over the Moon, mate."

"We need to get to the warren" I said "Take my hands" I said gesturing to them. Looking a little mystified, the Guardians complied.

Jack immediately grasped my left hand, smiling at me. I eyed him and he quickly looked away. Tooth grabbed onto his free hand and Sandy on to hers. North seized my other hand and Bunny took his.

"Keep together and don't let go" I said. "Why?" Jack asked. "It will keep you alive" I responded quite unconcerned. "WHAT!?" four of the Guardians screamed with Sandy just looking terrified.

I closed my eyes and then opened them. They were shining blue. Instantly the desert folded away, the night sky span around us. It was a terrible experience even for me who was experience at this sort of thing found it suffering. I wondered how the others were coping.

All of a sudden, I saw the Warren fold into sight and just as fast, with a slight thump, we arrived. All the Guardians except me collapsed to the ground. They were obviously exhausted. I sat down on a boulder.

"I think that you should take a rest" I said to them.

I then turn to you and say "Same to you and by the way, don't forget to comment. Goodnight"


	9. Chapter 9: Jack comes out

Chapter 9: Jack comes out

**_I got bored waiting for the 12th, so I decided to continue with the votes I had so far. If you don't like it, too late now. Sorry if that was a bit rude. Enjoy._**

* * *

_Jack was sitting on the edge of the light circle of the fire. While the Warren might not be the most comfortable of sleeping areas, but at least it was safe from Pitch and his minions. North, Bunny, Tooth and Sandy were fast asleep, but Jack didn't even feel drowsy. He could see the figure of Death in the distance. He was meditating in the centre of the clearing that him and Bunny had had their duel in barely three days ago. Three days. It felt like a century ago._

_He had to do it. The sheer thought of it filled him with terror and forced his heart to pound harder then it had in years, but he knew that if he didn't do something, he might lose Death forever. Slowly, he got to his feet and began to walk towards the meditating figure of Death._

I was meditating, attempting to make sense of my current vision. I was having flashes of Pitch's lair, the Globe in the North Pole, a tooth box in Tooth's palace.

Suddenly I was looking at an island. It was a very beautiful island. Forests covered it and a small village was nestled by the beach. Towering over the island was a massive mountain.

I felt a sudden feeling of foreboding. The mountain suddenly exploded. It wasn't a mountain at all, it was a volcano.

People suddenly started running and screaming from the village. Small canoes were starting to head out to sea. About 75% of them were out of harms way when a massive pyroclastic flow surged down the side of the volcano and engulfed everything in its path. The remaining 25% of the canoes were swallowed and destroyed.

Suddenly the vision whirled and changed.

I was standing in a pitch dark room. All of a sudden, Jack was standing in front of me. I was looking at him in a way I had never done before.

He took a step towards me and I towards him.

Jack's blue hoodie suddenly vanished in a cloud of smoke. His chest was perfectly proportioned, his muscles beautifully defined.

We took another step towards each other.

I looked into his eyes. They were a shade of diamond blue. His skin was incredibly pale, and his hair was pure white... as white as snow.

We took yet another step towards each other.

I could've counted his eyelashes.

Another step and then another.

Our faces were inches apart.

Jack leaned in towards me, his eyes slowly closing and his mouth ever so gently opening. I saw his ice white teeth glimmering his mouth. Our lips were now millimetres apart.

"Death" came a voice.

The vision broke and my eyes snapped open. Standing in front of me was the real Jack Frost. "Are you alright?" he asked eyeing me. "Fine" I said getting to my feet "Why do you ask?" "You were breathing very heavily." I stared wide-eyed. That wasn't supposed to happen during meditation; you were supposed to nearly stop breathing. Had the vision had such an effect on me. In fact it seemed to having an effect on me even now. But I had a more important vision to worry about.

"Umm..." Jack said hesitantly.

"Why are you still awake?" I asked him with my eyebrows raised. "Couldn't sleep" he said simply, but I had an inkling that he was lying. The left cornor of Jack's moth twitched whenever he told a lie.

"Jack" I said "I've had a vision." I stared into space. "There was a volcanic island. The volcano was erupting and there was a village below it. The people living in it were running and screaming. I don't know what this has to do with Pitch..." I continued turning back to Jack. "But I think it might be..." but before I could finish, Jack rushed towards me and before I could do anything, his lips made contact with mine.

For five seconds my mind went completely blank, all thoughts wiped clean away. I was stunned. My eyes began to grow heavy, and before I could stop myself, I was melting into Jack.

All too soon, we pulled apart. My vocal cords seemed paralysed. My heart was racing faster than a greyhound. A bead of sweat was running down my neck. I stared at Jack who stared right back, a look of concern in his eyes. Concern turned to horror and panic. "I'm... I'm sorry" he said all of a sudden. He turned away looking ashamed. "I..." He didn't finish his sentence. He ran away back to the camp. I fell backwards into a sitting position.

It was a whole five minutes before I found my head clear enough to stand up. I staggered back to the camp. I thought Jack would still be awake and sure enough, when I got back, he was snoring a little too loudly to be entirely plausible. I sat down beside the fire and (surprisingly faster than I expected) I dropped off to sleep.

_"Well, well, well" Pitch said looking down into the Warren through a nightmare-sand ball. "The Grim Reaper was always the only immortal I knew of who never had a weakness." The image turned to show Jack Frost, properly asleep this time. "But times change it seems" Pitch said, smiling. "Now he has a very powerful one."_

The hourglass of Jack Frost floated in front of me. I could see Jack's face in it he was looking terrified. The glass suddenly shattered. A horrible laugh echoed around the empty void. I turned and Pitch was facing me. He was holding my scythe. He raised it above his head.

I awoke sweating and shaking. I looked around. It was still dark so I decided to go back to sleep...

_...and when he woke up next morning, he couldn't remember the dream at all._


	10. Chapter 10: Bunny's Past

Chapter 10: Bunny's past

**Warning: this one's a bit of a tear jerker.**

* * *

When I woke the following morning, the first thing I did was turn to look at Jack who was already awake. He didn't make eye-contact with me. He kept his distance from me that day. I looked towards North. He was eyeing us both. He seemed to have suspicions about us both. I got to my feet pulled on my cloak and decided to go for a walk.

I walked through the warren. What was I supposed to do about Jack? It seemed he was feeling immense embarrassment over what he had done. Not that I felt anything against him, but since last night my innards seemed to have been thrown into turmoil. I didn't know what to do. Should I do anything.

I was rudely roused from my thoughts because of a rock. "Ouch" I yelled grabbing my foot. I turned to look at the offending stone. It was quite a jagged outcrop poking through the ground. I looked up and saw a carving. It was the civilisation of the Pooka's. I felt a massive pang of guilt in the depths of my stomach. I saw families of bunnies living in harmony together, but this was a civilisation long since lost. I couldn't stand it any longer. I was going to have to tell the Guardians.

Bunny was fiddling with some of his painted eggs when I found him. He was messing with some new patterns. I walked up to him. "Bunny?" I said. He looked up. "What?" he asked a little sharply, he was obviously still a little prejudice against me. "I think we need to tell the others" I said. Bunny's eyes turned from stern to worried. Tears slowly began to fill them. I knew why. He closed his eyes, opened them again... and nodded.

The Guardians were sitting around last night's campsite cleaning up. I cleared my throat and they all looked up except for Jack. "It's time we told you about what happened between me and Bunnymund." Even Jack turned to face me at this.

I sat down in front of the Guardians and Bunny sat down next to me and, together, we began to tell the story.

* * *

_It was another perfect day in paradise. E. Aster Bunnymund was sitting by the lake, gazing up at the sun. He loved this kind of weather. Not that it ever wasn't this kind of weather underneath the outback. The Warren lay at the centre of the Australian outback and was the heart of all Pooka civilisation. It was a shining hub of wonder and beauty._

_Bunny smiled contently. He had a good reason to love his existence. He had a good job, a loving wife and three wonderful children._

_He lay back in the sunlight and fell asleep._

_When he woke, he received the shock of his life. The warren was in flames._

_He leapt to his feet and sprinted through the Warren past Pooka's that were trying to run in the opposite direction but were quickly being overcome by the heat and smoke. Bunny refused to stop though. His wife and children were in the family home._

_He reached the village and stopped dead. His home was in flames. Without giving a seconds thought for his own safety, he burst into the house._

_The heat was overpowering but Bunny couldn't let himself be stopped. If he didn't do this his family might die unless of course they were already... NO. He refused to accept that option. He charged through the house calling for his family. Every breath he took was suffocating as he drew in smoke._

_He collapsed to his knees but still tried to force himself to go further. He couldn't stop. He pulled himself up, but the energy it took was exhausting. He further he tried to walk, the heavier his limbs became. He couldn't walk freely anymore, he had to pull himself along the wall._

_Suddenly one of the walls gave way and he collapsed to the ground. He tried to pull himself across the burning floor, but this last ditch attempt was so draining that he just flopped down._

_Then he heard a sound that made his heart stop dead. A scream rent the air. His wife! She and the children were still inside._

_His energy refilled and he pulled himself up. His head pierced a cloud of smoke at the same time he took another breath. He fell back down but his determination to save his family was too great to stop him. He pulled himself forward._

_The floorboard gave way and he fell into the cellar which was filled with flames._

_Hours and hours later Bunny awoke surprised that he had. He got to his feet, surprised at how light his limbs felt. He ran to the stairs that led up from the basement. He reached the hall. The floor and walls were blackened and burned. There was still heat radiating off them. He turned into the living room... and collapsed to his knees._

_In the corner of the room, a large, charred bundle lay. It seemed to be clutching something. He recognised the outline. It was... it was. And if that was her, then in her arms would be..._

_"NOOOOO" Bunny screamed falling to his knees sobbing in hysterics. He had never felt pain like this in his entire existence. "NOOOOOO" he sobbed again. He had failed. His entire family... was dead._

_A creaking made him look up. A tall cloaked figure carrying a scythe was walking towards the remains of his family. "STAY AWAY FROM THEM!" he roared, tears still pouring down his fur. The figure turned to face him. "I'm sorry" it said not sounding sorry at all "but I do have to complete the job." "I don't care" Bunny yelled "You just stay... wait... complete the job?" Bunny (hating himself for leaving his family behind) sprinted out of the house._

_The village was gone. His was the only house left standing. Piles of debris and ash were the only signs that a village had stood in that location. Dotted around the Warren... were corpses. Bunny fell to his knees again. Some were little more than piles of ash. Others were complete. Bunny walked past them and stared across the Warren. All life had been destroyed. There was nothing left._

_"How can I have survived?" Bunny said out loud. "You didn't" Said a voice. He looked around. It was the figure. "What?" "You died." The figure said matter-of-factly "MiM resurrected you." "Who..." "The man in the Moon" the figure said gesturing to the hole in the ceiling. The moon shone high above them. "The Pooka species is now extinct. You are the only one left." Bunny stood there. His mind was blank. He whipped around hoping to kill the figure that had brought him this horrible news. But he had gone._

_Bunny fell back to his knees. He began to weep._

* * *

_The Guardians sat around them as the tale drew to its conclusion. Tooth' s eyes were filled with tears. Sandy looked as though he had never known anything so terrible. North felt sorry for the Pooka for saying that Christmas was more important than Easter. Even Jack, whom had disagreed with the Rabbit on many occasions, felt sorrier than he had every been for the spirit of Hope._

"Well" I said "There you have it. Bunny buried his fellow Pooka's and became the spirit of Easter, bringing hope to those who need it most." Bunny looked down. His eyes were closed. A tear was running down his cheek. He got up and walked away. Though his face was hidden, we could hear his sniffling. North and Sandy got to their feet and went over to comfort him. Tooth was too distressed to do anything, she just sat there crying into her hands.

Jack stood and and walked away. I followed him. "Jack" I said. A tear slid down Jack's cheek. "If I had known..." he said. "I know" I said. He turned to me. I smiled and hugged him. Jack momentarily looked stunned and then embraced me back. Everything was alright.


	11. The Guardians Carol

**_The Guardians Carol_**

**_Author's note: This is NOT an official chapter. This is just a little drabble because it's so close to Christmas. I hope you enjoy._**

* * *

"On the first day of Christmas the Guardians gave to me... um... a Pale Horse whose name was Mildred" Death sang.

"Not a bad beginning" North said nodding. "My turn" Jack said. "On the second day of Christmas the Guardians gave to me... two magic staffs and a Pale Horse whose name was Mildred."

North spoke again at this point. "I believe it is my turn to start a new verse." Death nodded and gestured to him. "On the third day of Christmas the Guardians gave to me, three christmas trees, two magic staffs and a Pale Horse whose name was Mildred."

Bunny wasted no time after this and jumped in immediately. "On the fourth day of Christmas the Guardians gave to me, four boomerangs, three christmas trees, two magic staffs and a Pale Horse whose name was Mildred."

"Your turn now Tooth" Bunny continued. "On the fifth day of Christmas the Guardians gave to me, **five bicuspids, **four boomerangs, three christmas trees, two magic staffs and a Pale Horse whose name was Mildred."

Everyone looked to Sandy who conjured up six of his dream-sand whips. All the Guardians sang this verse. "On the sixth day of Christmas the Guardians gave to me, six dreamsand-whips, **five bicuspids, **four boomerangs, three christmas trees, two magic staffs and a Pale Horse whose name was Mildred."

It was back to Death now. "On the seventh day of Christmas the Guardians gave to me, seven hourglasses, six dreamsand-whips, **five bicuspids, **four boomerangs, three christmas trees, two magic staffs and a Pale Horse whose name was Mildred."

Death looked to Jack. "Umm... hold on... ah. On the Eighth day of Christmas the Guardians gave to me eight freezing blizzards, seven hourglasses, six dreamsand-whips, **five bicuspids, **four boomerangs, three christmas trees, two magic staffs and a Pale Horse whose name was Mildred."

Death, North and Tooth laughed at Bunny. They knew all about the blizzard of '68. North took his turn. "On the ninth day of Christmas the Guardians gave to me nine annoying elves, eight freezing blizzards, seven hourglasses, six dreamsand-whips, **five bicuspids, **four boomerangs, three christmas trees, two magic staffs and a Pale Horse whose name was Mildred."

Bunny took a brief moment and then said "On the tenth day of Christmas the Guardians gave to me, ten painted eggs, nine annoying elves, eight freezing blizzards, seven hourglasses, six dreamsand-whips, **five bicuspids, **four boomerangs, three christmas trees, two magic staffs and a Pale Horse whose name was Mildred."

"And now your turn Tooth" Jack said. "I've got a good one" She said smiling. "On the eleventh day of Christmas the Guardians gave to me eleven mini-fairies, ten painted eggs, nine annoying elves, eight freezing blizzards, seven hourglasses, six dreamsand-whips, **five bicuspids, **four boomerangs, three christmas trees, two magic staffs and a Pale Horse whose name was Mildred."

Sandy made a number twelve and a dolphin. "On the twelfth day of Christmas the Guardians gave to me twelve dream-sand dolphins, eleven mini-fairies, ten painted eggs, nine annoying elves, eight freezing blizzards, seven hourglasses, six dreamsand-whips, **five bicuspids, **four boomerangs, three christmas trees, two magic staffs and a Pale Horse whose name was Mildred."

"Well," Death said leaning back "That's that." "Not quite." All six of the Guardians leapt to their feet brandishing their weapons at the ominous form of Pitch.

"On the thirteenth day of Christmas the Guardians gave to me, thirteen nightmare horses, twelve dream-sand dolphins, eleven mini-fairies, ten painted eggs, nine annoying elves, eight freezing blizzards, seven hourglasses, six dreamsand-whips, **five bicuspids, **four boomerangs, three christmas trees, two magic staffs and a Pale Horse whose name was Mildred."

"Not a bad verse," North said, "Albeit a little sinister."

Death at this moment produced a large platter with a dish on top. "Do you like your Christmas Pudding really well-done(?)" He took off the dish to reveal a cremated mess underneath. It looked little more than a hunk of charcoal. The only way you could have told it was (or rather had been) a christmas pudding was because it had a small piece of holly stuck on top. The atmosphere was filled with silent groans.

* * *

_**More official chapters coming soon.**_


	12. Chapter 11: Not the teeth again

Chapter 11: Not the teeth again

* * *

The next morning I was rudely awoken by a scream. In half a second, I was fully awake, dressed, had grabbed my scythe and was sprinting towards the source of the screams.

It was Tooth. One look made me stop dead. She was moulting. Feathers were strewn around her.

"What's happening?" Bunny yelled rushing up to her. North appeared almost instantly. "It's the belief." "What do you mean?" I asked. "Tooth hasn't been able to do her duty the past few days, and now the children are beginning to stop believing."

"What do we do?" I asked beginning to panic.

"There's only one thing we can do." North took a deep breath and said "WE MUST COLLECT THE TEETH!" Bunny groaned. "Oh, not again," Jack moaned. "Why not?" I said, "It might be fun."

* * *

Within minutes we were shooting through the sky. Tooth and Sandy were behind us observing the scene in front of them. The said scene consisted of me, Bunny, Jack and North dashing across the roofs of the streets and houses.

"Come on, keep up!" Jack yelled. "I'd tell you to stay out of my way, but you wouldn't be able to keep up anyway!" Bunny shouted back.

"Why not?" I asked loudly, narrowly missing a street lamp. "Let's just say that you don't want to race a rabbit mate." "A RACE?!" North yelled in happiness.

"No point in racing me," I yelled. I shot off so fast, I literally broke the sound barrier. All five of the Guardians were blasted backwards by the sonic boom. "Idiot, we're supposed to be doing this on the quiet," Jack roared after me.

* * *

Now to the job.

I stepped through the window into the bedroom. Bunnymund was already in there holding the tooth. "Ha," he said grinning at me. I frowned and snapped my fingers. The tooth flew out of his hand and into mine. I smiled. "Thanks" I said and off I flew.

* * *

Bunk-beds= Twins= TWO TEETH! I reached under the pillows of each and pulled out a tooth from both. "Yes," I hissed.

* * *

The next pillow I reached under had five teeth underneath it. "Wow" I thought. I looked up at a set of trophies, a hockey stick and a rugby ball. "Someone likes to play it rough," I said out loud.

* * *

_North stepped up to a bed. The little girl was fast asleep with a tooth underneath her pillow. "Is piece of cake," North said reaching to take the tooth. At that moment the ground opened up from underneath him and he fell into one of Bunny's enchanted warrens. Unfortunately, Bunny didn't know that North had been standing there so now they were stuck in the entrance to the tunnel, chest-to-chest. "What d'ya think you're doin' mate?"_

I reached under the pillow and took out the tooth. I smiled at North and Bunny trapped in the tunnel mouth. "Hey, that's my tooth!" North called after me as I waved it tantalizingly in their faces. "Give that to me" Bunny growled, trying and failing to force himself out of the tunnel. "Not a very convincing argument," I chuckled before setting off to the next destination.

* * *

Jack leapt through the window into another bedroom. Snap! The death net wrapped itself around his ankles and he crashed to the floor. "Sorry Jack," I said examining the tooth I was holding, "but all's fair in love and war." I stepped up to him. "And this is a bit of both" I continued, quickly planting a kiss on Jack's forehead before flying off into the night.

* * *

I reached under another pillow, but I felt something that almost certainly wasn't a tooth; it was furry. I withdrew my arm and pulled out a mouse. It was wearing a Tyrolean hat and had a Euro strapped to it's belt. 'Ah,' I exclaimed, 'Bonjour. Faites-vous partie de la division européenne?' 'Piailler,' the mouse squeaked.

* * *

Bunny looked under the pillow, but instead of finding a tooth, he found a piece of paper with an arrow pointing to the window. "HA HA HAAA" I burst out laughing before flying off with another tooth.

* * *

Bunny had finally managed to procure a tooth. He tossed his latest catch into the air and caught it. "HA ha" He said. All of a sudden, ice formed under his feet and he slipped down the roof. "CRIKEY" he screamed. As he slid past, Jack snatched the tooth out of his paw.

"Yes" He said in triumph. Unfortunately, Sandy chose that precise moment to shoot down and snatch the tooth from Jack's fingers.

"NO" he roared up at the golden figure above him. Sandy smiled and waved. At this point, I shot past quickly snatching the tooth from his hand. Sandy looked up at me surprised and upset. "No point trying to make me feel guilty, I'm immune to all that."

* * *

As I sprinted across the roof of another building, I decided to do a North. I took the chimney.

_Bunny lit the match and put it to the logs. A fire burst up the chimney. "Ha" he said, grinning evilly. "Ho ho ho," He chuckled. "Yeah, you're not North you know," came a voice from behind him. He whipped round in time to see Death clutching a tooth, spinning and vanishing. There was then a crash and an "OUCH" as North came down the chimney and landed in the fire._

* * *

The Guardians gathered under Brooklyn bridge. They had done poorly. Jack was holding just two teeth in his hand. Sandy had fared even worse; he had just the one. Bunny had three. North had done the best; he had five.

"What happened?" Tooth said in alarm looking at the sorry collection of eleven teeth. "There were over ten thousand teeth out tonight." "Well, you see..." Jack began to say, but he was interrupted by a massive crash from behind them. Turning round, they saw a massive sack taller than North, bulging with teeth... and on top of it was me.

"WOW" Tooth said beaming up at me, "You collect teeth and leave gifts even faster than my fairies." "Well yeah, I am a... wait 'leave gifts'?" Tooth's smile turned to a look of concern. "You've all been leaving gifts, right?" "Yea... no," I admitted. I smacked my forehead with my hand.

The four guardians below me burst out laughing. I snarled at them. "Don't laugh at me, you haven't been leaving gifts either." The guardians smiles vanished. "Ha ha," I sniggered back at them.

* * *

_Sandy gathered coins from the dispenser in the Brooklyn Bridge Coin-laundry. Jack, Bunny and North had lined up behind him._

_"Where's Death?" Jack asked looking around. Right on cue, there was a massive crash from across the street and, looking out the window, they saw the walls of the bank opposite burst outwards. Alarm wailed as lights flashed. Death ran up to them, holding three bags, bulging with coins._

_"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Bunny roared. "Just getting some cash," Death replied, offering a sack to them. "We are not taking one penny of those stolen goods," North said outraged. "Fine, help me with this and we'll split the remaining coins."_

_"NO" Bunny and North shouted at me. "What do you think about this Jack?" North said looking at him. "Well..." "JACK" North bellowed. Sandy smacked him hard on the back of the head._

* * *

Unfortunately, it seemed the Guardians were determined to out-do me in this particular part of the job.

* * *

I shot into one room, but it turned out that Bunny had got there first. I could tell because several painted eggs and one or two chocolate ones had been put by the side of the bed. I cursed the rabbit.

* * *

The next bedroom I entered had a small vial of dreamsand which had been labeled "A good dream." I looked above the head of the child in time to see a beautiful animation of the child in question riding on the back of dolphin. "Damn you, Sandy."

* * *

At the third bedroom, things were starting to get out of hand. Jack had left a massive sculpture of all six of the Guardians. "That's it," I snarled.

* * *

At the fourth bedroom I stopped in my tracks. A figure was standing in the corner of the room in the dark. There was a zap of electricity and North appeared in a flash of light next to a christmas tree and a massive stack of presents. He laughed. "Oh forget it," I sighed, chucking the coin over my shoulder.

* * *

I sat in the Warren, with my arms crossed. I was feeling rather pissed off after not being able to deliver so much as a coin. Still, children's belief in Tooth had been restored and that's all that matters.

I was having a thought.

I walked up to the Guardians and said "We need to reclaim the North Pole."

* * *

**_I've been wondering what the story would look like in images. I would request (if you want to) that you could draw and send to me images of differing scenes from the story. And please remember to review._**


	13. Chapter 12: The Liberation of the Pole

Chapter 12: The Liberation of the Pole

* * *

Sub-chapter 1: Preparation.

* * *

"What?" North said stunned. "I said we need to reclaim the North Pole," I replied. "But... how...?" Bunny spluttered. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." I said quickly brushing off that question. "First we need to prepare for the atta..." "ARE YOU MAD!?" Bunny yelled, leaping to his feet.

"He's right Grim," Jack said, "The fearlings have completely over run the pole. The moment we go there we'll be destroyed." "Jack's right, none of our weapons are a match for Pitch's," Tooth said. Sandy conjured an image of all six of us, which was then blasted into smithereens. I smiled at this.

"True, but you reckon without me." I said picking up my scythe. "North is an expert at crafting toys." I twisted the handle."I on the other hand am a master at constructing weapons."

My scythe burst into a massive workshop. Hammers, tongs and many other tools leapt into being beside a massive furnace and several anvils. I turned to the Guardians. They were looking even more shocked than when I had introduced them to Mildred. "North, give me your swords. Jack, your staff. Bunny I need your boomerangs and egg-bombs. Sandy, I'll need your dream-sand." "What about me?" Tooth asked. "I'll need your measurements," Deaths said, holding out a tape-measure.

The next few weeks were dominated by clangs and clashes as Death worked on the weapons within the workshop. Jack had once tried to enter the workshop to ask what he was doing, only to be rebuffed by a massive anvil.

"What is he doing in there?" Bunny asked for the thirteenth time in the past three days. He passed a jug of coffee around the makeshift table to Jack who kept glancing at the entrance to the workshop. "He hasn't slept, barely eats... I think he's becoming obsessed." The Guardians had found it difficult to eat during the past few days, even Jack whose appetite could rival even that of North. Jack had been increasingly worried since the clangs and crashes had stopped emanating from the workshop. At that moment, the doors to the workshop swung open and Death walked out... looking none-too clean and very tired. Jack found he quite liked the look of the dirty part.

"Well..." I said, my voice cracked from lack of use, "I've done it." "Exactly what have you done?" North asked tentatively. I walked back into the workshop and came out dragging a massive case behind me. "You wait and see," I said grinning and I opened the case.

"North, this is for you." I lifted out a massive, enchanted, stainless-steel, double edged sword with miniscule serations for maximum cutting power. I could see awe and wonder in North's eyes. "Is amazing," He said, taking it. He held it horizontally in his palm. It was balanced perfectly. "It has a special feature," I continued, "Press that button on the handle." North did so and immediately massive bolts of electricity began running up and down the blade. "I also made this armour for you," I said holding out a massive titanium suit of armour, studded with rubies. The gloves were equipped with spiked knuckle-dusters made of diamond.

"Bunny you're next," I said and I held out a leather belt of coloured grenades. "When you use one, it splits into five other grenades on the initial explosion." Bunny picked one up, pulled out the pin and threw the grenade into the air. It exploded in a massive cloud of coloured smoke and out of the smoke came five more grenades which exploded even more powerfully. "And these," I said, giving him two golden ninja stars. They were so sharp that you could barely see the edges. I also passed him a robe made of chain-mail on the interior, and green silk on the outside trimmed with gold. "Tailor-made for you." He smiled at me.

"Tooth." She drifted forward to me. I lifted out a set of six, beautiful throwing daggers, made of chased silver and studded with opals. I then took out a massive bow and a quiver full of arrows. The tips of the arrows were made of purest obsidian and the feathers at the opposite end were exactly the same colour and texture as Tooth's feathers. "When you fire one of these arrows, it will continue to track it's target until it strikes." She took the weapons with some reverence. "They're beautiful," she said as the silver of the daggers were reflected in her eyes. I held out her armour. It was made of plates of carbon-fiber so it was strong and light... perfect for a flying Guardian like Tooth.

I looked over to Sandy who automatically drifted over to me. I reached into the chest and pulled out a massive flail. The shaft was three foot long and the spiked ball on the end was a large as Sandy's head. I then held out a massive hammer on a retractable chain. I had enchanted them to deal as much damage as their mass would permit, but I made them so light that even Sandy could hold them with ease. "A special feature of these two is that every nightmare creature they touch will turn straight back into good-dream sand." Sandy's eyes widened in amazement. I also lifted out a cloak that I had enchanted to allow Sandy to move through solid objects.

"And Jack." Jack strode up to me, a look of hope on his face. I gave Jack a massive double-Axe made entirely of ice. He held it in his hands. It glimmered in the light. He gave it an experimental swish through the air. It left a fine trail of ice-crystals in it's wake. "Anything it touches will turn to ice immediately." I then produced a set of snowballs. "What are these for?" Jack asked. "I'll show you." I took a snowball and threw it towards a tree. The snowball suddenly exploded and turned into several massive spears of ice that continued to shoot forwards until they pierced the tree.

I then gave Jack his armour. All five of the Guardians raised their eyebrows and all but Jack had to attempt to suppress their laughter. Jack's armour was made entirely of black leather and there frankly wasn't much of it. There was only enough to cover his forearms, his lower legs and his crotch. It was also very tight fitting. "WHAT?!" Jack yelled outraged. I pulled him up close and whispered into his ear, "It's for my amusement, not yours." Jack glowered at me, but I flashed him a simpering smile that broke him down very quickly.

Next morning, we woke early. I opened the chest and took out my weapons. My scythe couldn't be improved because it was designed to resist interference, but I had crafted myself two large sickles that would act just like short-swords. The Death-Net had also been redesigned. It was now the Death-Whip. I had also crafted skull-bombs, more powerful than the hourglass-bombs. I reached for the hook on the wall and took down my cloak which I had improved. Should I become overwhelmed, it would become invisible, hiding me from view.

I dressed and stepped outside. Four of the Guardians were already out there, dressed in their new armour and testing out their new weapons. North was giving his new sword a few experimental swipes, Bunnymund was tossing a grenade from one hand to the other, Tooth was fingering her bow and arrow nervously and Sandy seemed to be comparing the war hammer to the dream-sand whips.

"Where's Jack?" I asked. "He doesn't wanna come out mate," Bunny said placing the grenade back onto the belt. I turned to the tent that Jack had been sleeping in. "Jack come on," I called."I am not coming out," he yelled back. "Oh come on Jack, we're going now." There was a brief silence and then Jack exited his tent. All five of us burst out laughing.

The design of Jack's armour meant that he was bare-chested. His loin-pouch seemed to be stretched tightly around something. He was also wearing the leather collar I had hidden in the armour. I sniggered. "If you want, you can wear your normal clothes." Jack looked relieved.

* * *

Sub-chapter 2: The Invasion begins.

* * *

The tunnel opened up in the middle of the snow-fields. Two large ears poked up, gently turning and twisting trying to detect the tiniest amount of sound. Bunny poked his head up and glanced around shiftily. "All clear," he whispered down to us. We all pulled ourselves out of the tunnel mouth. Jack was dressed in his normal clothes again much to his relief.

We looked over what had been North's workshop. It was now surrounded by a field of black-sand stretching up high into the sky. Flashes of lightning could be seen crisscrossing the cloud of sand.

"Oh, MiM give us strength," North whispered. I stepped forward. "No time like the present, let's go."

It took about five minutes to reach the complex. The first corner we looked around had a nightmare on duty. Bunny took out his ninja star and threw it at the unfortunate fearling. It exploded on contact. The ninja star flew back to Bunny. "Nice," he said examining the weapon with a new expression of amazement in his eyes.

We had reached the main entrance when Sandy held out his hand to stop us. "Have you heard something?" North asked. Sandy nodded and conjured and image of a yeti and an elf. "Where?" I asked. Sandy flew of around the corner. We followed him. Left, right, right, left, right, left.

We eventually reached the stables that had once held the Reindeer, but now it was filled with yeti's and elves all chained up and squashed together. There were at least fifty in each stall. At the sight of us they all leapt to their feet. "SSSHHH" Tooth said pressing a finger to her lips. "Jack, do the honours," I said. He nodded. He took out his staff, froze over all of the gates and with an almighty crash of his axe all of the gates were destroyed. "Sandy, get the chains off quickly, someone would have heard that." Sandy conjured up streams of his dream-sand which snaked their way into the locks on the cuff and opened them. Within the minute, all the elves and yeti's were free. "Get ready to attack" Bunny said.

Slowly, but surely we crept through the passageways and corridors to the Globe room. Every now and then we encountered an fearling, but they were quickly dealt with. All too soon, we were standing outside the door to the globe room."Ready?" I whispered, my heart pounding so hard it was a miracle that they couldn't hear it. Very slowly, the Guardians nodded. "Okay... 3... 2... 1..."

"CHAAAAARRRRRGE!" We all burst through the doors, screaming battle cries.

A fearling charged at us. A dagger shot passed my shoulder hitting it in between the eyes.

Sandy and Tooth leapt over the railings and battled the airborne fearling of which there were many.

North dashed ahead of me, Jack and Bunnymund, swiping with his electrocuting sword.

I did a double front-flip and brought my scythe down on a crowd of fearlings that had unwisely tried to charge at me. They burst into dust.

Jack shot around the corridors, moving on an extra-slippy floor of ice. Ice spears were flying everywhere.

At one point I managed to stop just in time because a hammer on a chain shot passed me and struck several dozen fearlings. "SANDY!" I shouted. Sandy gave an expression that sort of said "sorry."

Bunny shot passed me, chucking his grenades ahead of him. There were several explosions and a loud crumbling noise.

A cavalcade of yeti's stormed passed screaming "WWORRWBBLWOORBBWWOBBB!" **_"I don't know what it mean either."_**

I finally reached the elevator and took it to the top level. I jumped out when the doors opened and sprinted to the living area.

Pitch was standing by the control panel looking down at the chaos in the hall below him. I was delighted to see a small flicker of panic cross his face. "Enjoying the show(?)" I asked sarcastically.

Pitch whipped around and shot an arrow at me. It missed and I immediately retaliated by throwing my own skull-bombs at him. Where they struck they left massive craters.

Pitch conjured his massive axe. I pulled out my sickles and quickly parried the attacks.

One sharp blow in the right place made Pitch stumble backwards. Quick as a flash I pulled out the Death-Whip and it wrapped itself around Pitch's waist. "ARRGH!" He yelled as I lashed the whip around, smashing him into the walls.

He hit the globe, bounced off and stopped just short of the fire. I heard him groan in pain. I placed my foot underneath him and kicked him over so that he was facing me and I was delighted to see that he was looking scared.

"Feeling nervous, Boogeyman?" I said evilly. Pitch smiled. "Not as nervous as you should be." My eyes widened in fear.

Pitch vanished and reappeared beside the control panel. "HYA" He yelled and a massive wave of fearlings soared towards me.

I pulled up my cloak and vanished. Pitch looked shocked as his fearlings stopped moving in surprise. I sprinted out of the shadows brandishing my scythe. It cut through them with ease.

I sprinted up to Pitch who vanished and reappeared on top of the Globe. I stumbled and dropped the scythe as I passed the place where Pitch had been standing.

"EVACUATE!" he yelled, his face filled with terror. The mass of fearling became a cloud of black-sand which soared up and out of the hole in the roof. The massive dark cloud hovering over the North Pole vanished and Pitch himself disappeared... but before he vanished, I saw him grin evilly at me. What had happened?

I picked up my scythe... and turned to look at it in panic. It was feeling as warm as a bed that has been slept in all night and the blade was glowing yellow.

I could now see a pattern. The scythe was getting hotter and the colours were moving higher through the colour spectrum. What would happen when it reached red? I didn't want to think about it.

Something else was niggling at the back of mind and after a while I managed to identify it. Pitch and his fearlings had abandoned the Pole far too quickly. It was almost as if...

I was roused from my thoughts as the Guardians entered the living area. "I've just realised something," I told them. "Pitch and the fearlings have been trying to get into here for centuries so why would..." but I stopped speaking at the sight of the expressions on their faces.

Tooth looked on the verge of tears. North and Bunny were trying to hide their feelings, but I could see that they were suffering from something as well. Sandy just looked at his feet, an expression of shame on his face.

All of a sudden, I realised what was wrong.

"Where's Jack?"

* * *

**_I may consider adding the next chapter if I get... oh say... 25 reviews?_**

**_This is not blackmail, it's bargaining._**

**_Please someone review. I'm getting paranoid waiting and I'm NOT joking._**


	14. Chapter 13: Captured!

Chapter 13: Captured!

**This one's a bit sadistic.**

* * *

_Jack wearily opened his eyes. He was surrounded by darkness. He couldn't see so much as an inch in front of his face. He tried to move, but his body was being restrained._

_All of a sudden the darkness cleared and Jack saw that he was standing in a massive, black chamber._

_He suddenly noticed a pressure around his throat. A metal collar he been fitted around his neck which seemed to be attached to a chain bound to the wall. He looked to his arms. They were bound in chains as well, attached to poles of black-sand. His legs were bound in the same fashion. But that wasn't the thing that alarmed him most. He was completely naked._

_He gave a strangled cry of help, but the collar restricted his airways to much._

_"Did someone call?" came the voice of Pitch. Jack saw him appear from the shadows in front of him. Jack tried to pull away, but he could barely move. "Keep away from me!" Jack yelled. Pitch cackled._

_"You're not in a position to give orders, Frostbite." And that was a tiny arrow into Jack's heart. Bunny had always called him that when he was annoyed with him. Jack growled at him. He continued to struggle._

_"Hold still," Pitch snapped._

_He pointed his finger at Jack's chest and a bolt of electricity shot from him and struck Jack hard in the stomach. He screamed in pain. Pitch laughed._

_"Ho, ho, HO!" Pitch cackled, "My powers are stronger then they have been in centuries." He shot another bolt of electricity into the wall and there was a minor explosion. Pitch danced on the spot with joy, giggling with glee. He held out his palm and conjured a sphere of fire. With a flex of his fingers, the flame became a towering inferno._

_"Oh my powers are growing by the second." He eyed Jack, with evil in his face. "Think of all the fun we could have together."_

_The light began draining away. Pitch began walking towards Jack. He raised his claws. The last thing Jack saw before the lights went out was Pitch advancing on him, his yellow eyes gleaming out of the shadows. Then the lights went out and all Jack knew after that was unendurable agony. His screams echoed throughout Pitch's underworld._

* * *

"How can we have let this happen?" I said, gently crying into my hands. It had been barely ten minutes since the Guardians had told me of Jack's kidnap.

I looked up. Injured yeti's and elves were being lain out in blankets on the floor. Not even the Guardians had managed to get through this unscathed. North's armour was heavily dented, Bunny's ears had been split and were bleeding, Tooth's wings were crumpled and her feathers were scattered everywhere and Sandy looked liked his sand had been fused together. All four of them were looking upset and ashamed.

I hadn't known pain this this in all of my three thousand years. I got to my feet and began to pace. "We have to get him back." "But we don't know where..." "I DON'T CARE!" I bellowed spinning around and accidentally releasing a wave of fire from my fists. Several of the elves squeaked and ran backwards.

"We have to find a way to rescue him." I repeated. I half-strode and half-sprinted over to the globe and quickly started tapping at the controls.

The globe started swiveling showing differing continents. I flicked another switch. It began displaying lights of differing colours. Golden lights showed believing children, red lights showed non-believer and green for adults. Blue lights were showing immortals, but unfortunately the only blue lights on the entire globe were located in the North Pole and that meant us. "NOT HELPING!" I bellowed and kicked the control panel.

There was a brief silence. "Did that 'elp?" Bunny asked. "Yes," I answered. "Did tha 'urt?" "Yes," I said, hopping on the spot clutching my toe.

* * *

_"AAARRRGGGHHH!" "YES, SCREAM JACK, SCREAM!" Jack writhed in agony, screaming as Pitch's nightmare sand whip struck his exposed back._

_"PLEASE PITCH! STOP, PLEASE!" Pitch laughed and finally stopped. Jack's body went limp and breathed heavily. Tears of pain were rolling down his cheeks. Underneath his body, he could see something dark red and glutinous seeping along the ground._

_Pitch then took out a riding crop, coated it with salt and began whacking Jack as hard as he could. Jack screamed even louder as the salt entered his wounds and stung like a thousand needles._

_Jack's screams were punctuated with sobs. The pain was so intense he wished he could just black out and feel nothing more. After what felt like an hour, Pitch finally stopped his relentless torture of the winter spirit._

_A finger touched his back and Jack winced. Pitch stepped in front of him, blood filling his palm. It was Jack's. Pitch smiled, forced Jack's mouth open and tipped the blood down his throat. Jack choked and gagged, but Pitch clamped his mouth shut. "Swallow Jack,"Pitch demanded. Tears streaming from his eyes, Jack tipped his head back and swallowed the load of blood._

_"Good boy," Pitch cooed, gently patting Jack's cheek. Jack gave a small cough, a splutter and said "Please Pitch. Just let me go." "And lose my newest plaything? I think not Jackie."_

_Pitch produced a strange device which had two large metal clamps. Pitch took one and clamped it to Jack's nose. Pitch then took the other and attached it to the tip of Jack's penis. It was all Jack could do to stop yelling at this point. Pitch flicked a switch on the device._

_Pure electricity surged through Jack's body. He screamed and screamed as Pitch laughed. Jack felt like he was being burned from the inside out. When it all finally stopped, Jack was panting like a dog and was even gently smoking. He looked up at Pitch who had just removed the clamps._

_"You can't keep me here forever Pitch, the Guardians will come for me." Pitch laughed, a cold, cruel laugh."Oh, no no no Jack. The Guardians have abandoned you. They think you're dead." "No" Jack moaned. "Death will come for me. He WILL come for me. He lov..." "Ha!" Pitch laughed. "He doesn't love you. He never even liked you." "No," Jack moaned again "You're wrong." "He HATES you!"_

_"YOU'RE LYING!" Jack roared, pulling against his chains and screaming in rage. He looked so deranged that Pitch actually backed away in alarm. Jack tugged and twisted on the chains, raging in anger._

_Suddenly he screamed and shot a jet of ice from his mouth. Pitch backed away... and began smiling to himself. The breaking was beginning._

* * *

Three days had passed since the liberation and I hadn't slept for a single minute. The lights on the globe hadn't changed. I'm starting to lose my mind.

I had had a vision last night. It was horrible. Jack was standing in front of me. His eyes were white and empty, his skin horribly scarred and his clothes ripped and torn. His pure white hair had turned grey and lank. A dribble of blood was oozing out of the corner of his mouth.

"Jack?" I whispered. He looked at me with anger and disappointment in his face. I suddenly realised I was holding Jack's hourglass... and it was empty. I looked back towards Jack. "You didn't save me," he said.

"You've failed him," came a voice. Pitch stepped out of the shadows. Once again, he was holding my scythe. "Jack, didn't I tell you he would abandon you?" Pitch said, bending down and whispering into Jack's ear. "You're right," Jack said.

Pitch drew the blade of the scythe across Jack's throat. "If you really care about him, then why did you leave him to suffer at my hands?" Pitch smiled at me. "And if you don't care about him then you won't mind me doing this." Quick as a flash, he swiped the scythe across Jack's throat. His throat bled out as I exited the trance screaming.

* * *

_Jack screamed as he felt the knife cut into his flesh._

_Pitch was enjoying every second of this, Jack could tell. Every now and then, Pitch would bite Jack hard on the neck, drawing blood. He tried to pull away, but every time he did the collar tightened around his neck, choking him._

_Once he had finished with the knife, he conjured his fire and sealed Jack's wounds. The process would be painful enough for an ordinary person, but Jack was the winter spirit and as such was much more sensitive to the heat._

_Pitch stood back to admire his work. He had carved words into Jack's back. They read "THIS BROKEN BOY IS THE PROPERTY OF THE NIGHTMARE KING."_

_But Pitch wasn't finished there. He electrocuted Jack, zapping him at key pressure points of the body and every time he did so he gave a jab at the affected area and Jack jerked._

_"AND DO YOU KNOW THE BEST PART OF THIS FOR ME?" Pitch bellowed over Jack's continued screams and sobs. "YOU'LL BE WITH ME FOR ETERNITY BECAUSE THE GUARDIANS WILL NEVER, EVER FIND YOU!"_

* * *

Five days later...

I'd passed out three times in the past few days and each time seeing a repeat of the vision. No matter what however, I would not give up, I had to find Jack.

The Guardians he tried to persuade me to eat and sleep, but I would not be dissuaded. I would keep my vigil until I found Jack again.

But as the days passed, I began to have doubts and fears. Even if I did manage to find him, how was I supposed to make it back to Jack? What if I didn't find him and never saw him again? What if I never managed to tell him that... I... that I...

* * *

_The black-sand coiled around Jack's sleeping head. He was forever plagued with nightmares. The worst one was when he was being tortured and abused by a figure that he couldn't make out. Every night, would experience the same dream. It was driving him insane... literally._

_Pitch stepped into the cell. Jack awoke and snarled at Pitch._

_"Now, now Jack, let's have none of those vulgar noises." He struck Jack in the face with an iron crowbar._

_Jack cursed Pitch loudly and spat a massive bolt of ice at Pitch who swept it away with a lazy wave of his hand._

_"Oh Jack. How foolish. You know that bad behaviour is not tolerated." He shot a fireball at Jack who screamed as angry, shining burns rose up on Jack's flesh._

_When Jack finally stopped screaming, Pitch said "It has been drawn to my attention that you have been wondering whom the figure in your dreams is." He smiled, showing pointed teeth. "I won't keep you in suspense a moment longer." Pitch waved his hand and a small cloud a dark-sand floated into Jack's eyes._

_He was back in the nightmare. The tall figure stood high over him. A flash of blue gleamed out of the dark. The figure stepped into the light. "No." He knew the figure at once. "No!" It was Death. "Hello Jack." "NOOOOOOOO!"_

_Jack awoke to the sounds of his sobbing and Pitch's laughter._

_Jack was flailing around on the ground firing ice and snow everywhere, screaming and sobbing._

_Pitch laughed with delight. Jack was broken._

* * *

Ten days later...

_Jack stood bound in the cells. He was breathing heavily. Despite the fact it was so dark, his pupils seemed to have shrunk. His teeth were chattering ever so slightly and not due to the fact that he was cold. He was swaying ever so slightly. occasionally, he giggled for no apparent reason._

_Pitch entered the room. Jack swerved his head around to look at him. He smiled dementedly and suddenly burst out laughing. As he laughed violent streams of ice and snow burst forth from his lips. "Ooo, Pitch you don't look so good," He cackled._

_"Jack, you're the one who's not looking too good." Jack took no notice; he couldn't hear Pitch over his own maniacal laughter._

_"It seems that I have been successful," Pitch said to himself, over-looking the tortured and twisted boy that had once been tha spirit of winter and the Guardian of fun._

* * *

I was meditating, trying to get a vision but all I kept seeing was the volcanic island as if that mattered.

I opened my eyes and looked up to the sky. The Moon floated high above me. Then I did something I had never done before... I begged. "Please MiM... I beg of you. Help me find Jack. Please."

There was a flash of silver light and I collapsed.

I was floating above the forest that surrounded Burgess. I shot down and saw the skeletal remains of a bed. A bed? In the middle of a forest? I flew closer. Underneath the bed was a deep, dark hole. I heard Pitch's voice. "It's time for fear to rule the world."

My eyes flew open. "I know where you are."

For the first time in days, I smiled.


	15. Chapter 14: Rescued

Chapter 14: Rescue

_**Still a tiny bit of a working progress.**_

* * *

_"AARRGGHH HA HA HAA!" Jack was screaming and laughing as Pitch continued to strike him with his whip. No matter what Pitch did to him, Jack barely reacted as he had been forced over into insanity._

_Pitch was starting to get a little frustrated. He missed sane Jack; he had given a much better reaction._

_"GGGRRRR" Pitch growled as he whipped Jack even harder. "WHY WON'T YOU REACT ANY MORE?!" he roared. Jack just laughed all the louder. "DON'T KNOW, DON'T CARE!" He cackled. Jack writhed in ecstasy that had no meaning and his eyes swiveled madly in his head._

_Pitch picked up another whip which had spikes attached. He whipped Jack as hard as he possibly could. Jack began screaming and laughing even louder. "HA HA, HAVE I BEEN A BAD BOY PITCH?" Jack laughed. That gave Pitch a small stab of pleasure, but it wasn't much._

_Pitch then grabbed his staff and struck Jack even harder across the chest. "AHAHAHAHAHA, OOO IT TICKLES DADDY!" "I AM NOT YOUR DADDY!" Pitch bellowed. "OH, SO YOUR MY MOMMY, HA HA!"_

_"Oh forget it!" Pitch roared, throwing down the staff in frustration. "OOOHHH, CRACKPOT'S FEELING CRANCKY!" Jack sang in a sing-song voice. "If anyone's the crackpot here, it's you," Pitch snarled and kicked Jack in the shin, but that just made Jack laugh all the louder._

_Pitch fled from the room with his hands over his ears as Jack's insane laughter echoed throughout the halls of Pitch's domain._

* * *

It was the evening. I sat down at the dining table, which had been temporally converted into a conference table, and told the Guardians of my plan to rescue Jack. Once I told them, there was a reflective silence.

"Sounds very risky mate," Bunny said with his chin in his hand. "Breaking into Pitch's domain alone will be dangerous, but attempting to enter with Pitch holding Jack as hostage... I shudder to think what he could do," Tooth said, tapping her fingernails together. "Never-the-less, we must make attempt to rescue Jack... or who know what will happen to him," said North. Sandy nodded in agreement.

I got to my feet. "Well... are we agreed?" There was a brief moment of silence. Sandy nodded again, Tooth said "Yes," North clapped his hands together with a reassuring nod.

Bunny made no movement or sound. I could clearly see that his loathing for complying with orders made by me was battling with his determination to protect Jack. Eventually he looked up and nodded.

I picked up my scythe. "Well..." I said eyeing them all, "Let's go."

"EVERYONE TO THE SLEIGH!" North bellowed. I followed him to the sleigh bay area. The sleigh and the reindeer had returned once the pole had been liberated.

I glanced over my shoulder and couldn't resist giggling. Sandy was dragging Bunny along by his dream-sand ropes while Tooth pushed him in the back. "No, not the sleigh!" he begged. I sighed. "Leave it to me," I said. I took out the scythe and began to jab Bunny in the tail with it. "YOUCH" he yelled and jumped forward.

After that we were all in the sleigh within four seconds. "Go" North yelled and snapped the reigns. The reindeer charged down the ice tunnel, did a couple of "loop-de-loops", shot off of the outside ramp and into the sky. "To Burgess," North said into his snow-globe and threw it into the air. The portal opened and we flew into it. "WAHOO!" I screamed.

* * *

_"OH, I DO LIKE TO BE BESIDE THE SEA-SIDE, OH I DO LIKE TO BE BESIDE THE SEA!" Jack had been singing the same song for over three hours. Pitch had resorted to stuffing his ears with black-sand corks. "Why did I take him prisoner in the first place?" he asked himself._

_At that point there was a slight BOOM overhead. The cages rattled on their chains. Pitch leapt to his feet. "EARTHQUAKE!" He heard Jack yell. "No, it's not," Pitch muttered to himself._

* * *

"Did you have to crash the sleigh?" I groaned pulling myself to my feet. "It was not intentional," North said, clambering out the the sleigh. "Tha's what you say mate" Bunny's muffled voice came from the ground due to the fact that he had managed to land face-first in the earth.

I stood up. I had suddenly detected the life-energy patterns of Jack Frost. "I'll be back in a minute," I said and before any of the Guardians could speak, I sprinted off as fast as I could.

I flew off down a street, turned down another, up a road and stopped in front of a small house. I could detect a faint sense of Jack's Life essence. I leapt up to one of the windows and looked in.

A small figure was lying on a bed in the room. Strange, it didn't look like Jack. I opened the window and slipped into the room. The figure sat up in the bed. It wasn't Jack. It was a small boy, with brown hair.

"Jack?" He said looking at me. I stepped forward. My malicious side decided to rear it's head at this point. **"****_No, I am not Jack Frost. I am the GRIM REAPER!"_**The boy backed away in terror. He was too scared to scream. "Have..." He gulped. "Have you come to take me away?" I dropped the deep voice act. "No, I'm not and I was only joking." The boy frowned. "So you're not the Grim Reaper." "No I am the Grim Reaper, but I was actually looking for Jack Frost."

The boy sat up straight. "You've come for Jack?!" "No I... wait, you know Jack Frost?" The boy smiled. "Yeah... he's my best friend." "What's your name?" "Jamie Bennett, Mr Reaper." I was sure that that name had stirred something in my memory.

"I'm going to have to tell you that Jack... has been taken prisoner by Pitch." Jamie sank into a sitting position on the floor. Tears began to fill his eyes. "Can we do anything?" I shoke my head. "No, there's nothing that you... wait. Maybe there is something that you can do."

I took Jamie's hand, hoisted him onto my back, jumped out the window (unfortunately bumping both of our heads in the process) and flew off into the distance.

"Where are we going?" Jamie yelled over the rush of the air. "We're going to return to the Guardians. Once we've done that, we're going to WHOA!"

I stopped in mid-air, skidding forward a few meters. "What's happened?" Jamie asked. "I felt... I felt Jack's life energy."

I floated down into a small section of woodland. In the centre of the area we landed in was the skeletal remains of a bed. "That's the entrance to Pitch's lair," I whispered. I recognised it instantly from my vision. Jamie jumped down from my back. "Well, what are we waiting for?" he said and rushed towards the bed.

"Stop!" I cried and grabbed his shoulder. "You can't go down there alone." "No and neither can you."

I froze. Very slowly, I turned 180 degrees. Standing right behind us were North, Bunny, Tooth and Sandy. All four of them were looking very displeased. Both me and Jamie gulped.

"Did you think you could lay seige to Pitch's fortress and leave us out of it? That seems rather selfish." North's face burst into a massive grin. "What about the boy?" Bunny asked. "I'll take full responsibility for him," I said. "It's against my better instincts, but on your head be it."

* * *

Pitch's lair was very dark. Gently we slipped through the black tunnels. At one point we reached a bottle neck and got stuck, but luckily Jamie managed to tug Sandy out which allowed everyone else to slip out.

We finally reached the main hall. It looked like a massive cavern. From the ceiling was hanging massive spiked cages. I felt a tiny hand grasp mine. I looked down at Jamie. "I'm scared" he whispered. "That's alright," I said, "It's all part of Human nature." "Quite correct," came a cold, snide voice from above us. Our heads whipped upwards. Above us stood Pitch, his evil teeth and yellow eyes gleaming out of the dark. "Welcome to my home. I'll introduce you to the house servants." Fearlings charged at us from out of nowhere. Bunny, North, Tooth and Sandy leapt into battle instantaneously.

"Come on Jamie, we need to find Jack," I said, pulling him down a side passage. There seemed to be no proper sense of direction in the place. Everywhere you turned, there seemed to be something that wasn't there before.

Half and hour passed and we had started panicking. All of a sudden "SSHH. Can you hear something?" We both listened... and we both heard "OH, I DO LIKE TO BE BESIDE THE SEA-SIDE!" "I recognise that voice," we both said at the same time.

I found a sealed metal door and kicked it in. Me and Jamie entered the room... and stopped dead at the sight of Jack. He was gently swaying from side-to-side singing "I do like to be beside the sea-side" at the top of his voice. His body was horribly scarred and he was bleeding. His eyes were empty of any form of conscience, but he was standing and performing functions that an unconscience person wouldn't be able to perform. This meant... "He's gone insane."

Jamie stepped forward. "Jack?" he whispered. Jack turned to face Jamie. His eyes swiveled and suddenly he burst out laughing. Jets of ice shot out from his mouth and I had to pull Jamie back to prevent him from being frozen to death. "AH HA HAAA, IT'S A LITTLE CHIPMUNK" Jack cackled.

I ran up to Jack. "Jack, it's me, Death," I said grabbing his cheeks, but he gave no sign of recognition. He gave a massive bellow of laughter. A massive bolt of ice hit me in the face. I stumbled backwards. I could just hear through the ice, Jack laughing. I breathed out through my nose, releasing a massive amount of heat. The ice melted.

Jack kept on cackling like a demented witch.

A brainwave occurred to me at this point. "Jamie, look away." Looking a bit mystified, Jamie turned away. I stepped up to Jack and before he could do anything else, I pressed my lips to his.

Jack was still squirming a little, but suddenly he stopped moving and began melting into me. A full minute passed and we finally broke apart.

Jack's eyes were closed. When he opened them, he looked straight into my pupils. And then he whispered in a voice barely above a whisper "It's you. I knew you'd come for me." "Did you expect me to do anything else?" I caressed the cheek of the boy I...

"Ahem," came a voice. I turned to face Jamie. "Don't you think we should get going?" Oh... quite right," I said and quickly slashed through the chains binding Jack's wrists.

At this point, I noticed all the wounds coating Jack's body. I smiled. I knew what to do. "Jack, take a deep breath." He did so. I placed my right hand on his head and made a complicated wave with the other. Blue-silver light flowed across Jack's body. When it withdrew, all the injuries had completely vanished.

* * *

We managed to find Jack hoodie, trousers and staff (which was thankfully nbroked.)

All three of us were sprinting through the tunnels, trying to find our way back to the entrance when... "Trying to escape? You disappoint me, Jack." We whipped around in time to see Pitch stepping out of the darkness. My scythe was in my hand instantly. "Jack, take Jamie and GO!" I rushed at Pitch who drew forth his axe.

Our weapons crashed together releasing a cloud of sparks. Not wasting half a second, I made a fast twist and swung the scythe so hard that Pitch had to back away. He also didn't waste a second. His axe swung down and narrowly missed my foot. "Bad aiming Pitch." My scythe moved in a sharp circle so fast, it was actually wearing down Pitch's axe.

I pulled it back, letting my defences down for the briefest moment and paied dearly. Pitch leapt forward and clasped my throat. My scythe fell out of my hand with a clatter. My lungs were bursting. I couldn't intake oxygen and Pitch's landing on my chest had forced all of the air out of it. He raised a dagger.

WHAM! "ARGH!" Pitch was knocked backwards by a blast of ice. Jack had come back for me. "I told you to take Jamie to safety." "He is," Jack responded "But I had to come back for you because... well... you came back for me," He said, caressing my cheek. I lifted my hand to feel his, but there was a loud groan as Pitch began pulling himself to his feet.

As I picked up the scythe, I let out a small gasp of pain. It was as hot as a freshly brewed cup of tea... and was shimmering bright orange. What would happen next?

We sprinted down the corridors back to the main hall. A mass of black sand lay thickly over the floor and the Guardians were panting heavily. Jamie was standing next to them. "Let's go," I yelled sprinting passed them. They quickly followed. We leapt out of the hole at the surface and immediately Jack flopped down onto the ground. "Aaahhh. Grass, birds, sky."

"You can relax later. We need to get back to the pole," I said pulling him to his feet and towards the sleigh.

* * *

**_Jack and Death's relationship is about to be turned on it's head._**

**_You'll find out why._**


	16. Chapter 15: The Broken Scythe

Chapter 15: The Broken Scythe

We sprinted back to North's sleigh before Pitch could manage to catch up with us. "Wait, what do we do with Jamie?" Jack asked. "He'll have to stay here. We can't take him with us," Bunny said clambering onto the sleigh somewhat reluctantly.

"We can't do that," I said, "Pitch is enraged and he knows that Jack and Jamie are friends. That makes Jamie a powerful weakness so we need to protect him. He'll be safe only with us." Jack smiled at me. He was obviously relieved. Jamie looked delighted. "You mean..." He pointed to the sleigh. "Yep, you can come with us. You can have a ride on the sleigh."

Jamie whooped with excitment and jumped onto the sleigh. "You will pay for this," North, said unsuccessfuly attempting to hide a grin. "How much?" I asked sarcastically. Tooth flew up next to Jamie who immediately began asking questions about Guardian life. Sandy gave a movement of his shoulders that clearly showed he was laughing under his breath. Bunny rolled his eyes.

* * *

Within ten minutes...

Jamie pulled his head up from over the side of the sleigh. "That's the fourth time you've spewed so far and we're barely twenty miles from Burgess," I commented in stunned disbelief. Jamie did indeed look very green and was dripping horribly from the mouth. I felt sorry, not for Jamie, but for whoever had been passing underneath us. After all, who in their right mind would want four loads of vomit cascading out of the sky onto their head?

All of the Guardians had inched away from Jamie leaving quite a large space between them. They were also trying to avoid looking at the nausiating image. Consequently I was the only one who saw the black sand hand.

"JAMIE!" I roared, seizing my scythe. By the time the Guardians turned round to see what was happening, Jamie had been snatched from his seat. I jumped over the side shooting down towards the ground. Jamie was below me with only his head visable in the black grasp. With a slash of my scythe, the dark hand vapourised. This also meant that Jamie fell out of the sky. He screamed as I shot down through the air to catch him. Gripping my scythe between my teeth, I scooped the terrified little boy into my arms and just managed to click my fingers.

With a massive NEIGH, Mildred appeared between my legs. Grabbing the reigns and dropping Jamie down in front of me, we shot off upwards to rejoin the battle.

Sandy, Tooth and Jack were airbourne, firing whips, arrows and ice everywhere. Bunny was throwing his egg-bombs and boomerangs at every Fearling that came too close. North was slashing hard with his swords and was certainly very successful.

"This is insane!" Jamie yelled staring at the pale green horse below him. Mildred turned her head to face him and gave a reproachful snort. "Careful Jamie. She's very clever and very sensitive so for god's sake be careful what you say," I said. I pulled out my scythe and prepared for attack.

Six fearlings charged, saw Mildred and ran away shrieking. Another, braver and more foolish than the others, charged at us, but a quick head-butt from Mildred smashed it into a few lumps of sand. A small horde tried to attack us from behind. Unfortunately for them they had come within range of Mildred's back legs. No need to say anymore.

At that moment I saw a sight that chilled my blood: a hundred Fearlings were charging towards us. There was no way Mildred could defeat them all and my scythe wouldn't be able to take them all out. I felt Jamie grasp me and I looked down to see him bury his face in my chest in fear.

But as I sprinted forward, ready to die fighting, all of a sudden my scythe seemed to drag itself forwards, pointing to the oncoming army. A burst of light stronger than the sun swept forwards and destroyed fearlings. Blinking to rid my eyes of the lights that had burned themselves into my retinas, I saw the armies of the Fearlings retreating into the depths of the sky.

Unfortunately, it seemed that the sleigh had also been affected by the light. It was now falling out of the sky straight towards the ground. "NO" I yelled and Mildred charged towards the falling shape below.

The reindeer were shrieking as they tried and failed to pull the sleigh back into the air. Mildred flew to the head of the pack, lashed the ends of the reins to her flanks and she pulled. The sleigh and the reindeer were pulled back up just long enough to make an emergency landing in a small copse of trees.

Bunny and North were lying on the sleigh looking a little traumatized. Jack, Tooth and Sandy flew down beside us looking drained but relieved all the same. Jamie jumped off Mildred's back, ran forward and hugged Jack.

That brief moment of calm was short-lived.

With a roar, a massive swarm of black sand rose up out of the ground and created a massive fearling, as tall as a three storey building. It's mouth was filled with razor-sharp teeth. It's eyes were glowing red-hot. It's long arms, tipped with knives instead of claws, were swinging through the air.

It spoke in Pitch's voice. "I have nothing more to say to you Death. You have irked me too often and for too long."

It swung it's arm at me. Jack tried to shout "LOOK OUT!" but I was already prepared. I ducked. The fearling, caught off-guard, staggered sideways. I sprinted around it's back, but the fearling simply twisted and again gave a swipe. This time it was more successful. I screamed as the knives pierced my side. My own blood soaked the ground. I heard Jamie shriek in terror. He would scream louder in a moment.

With a twist of my hand, the blood rushed into the air. I was right about Jamie's reaction as another scream pierced the air. Another twist and the blood formed a massive whip. I quickly lashed out at the fearling. Unfortunately, the black sand composing the fearling infected my blood and the entire whip turned on me.

It soared into my face. The blood was seaping up my nostrils, prising apart my lips, forcing it's way into my eyes. I couldn't breathe or see. I was left thrashing around in panic. Another blow to my shoulder sent me spinning to the ground. That was the final straw.

With a blast of heat, the water in the blood was vapourised. That left congealed blood coating face and eyes. Blinking as fast as possible to rid my optical sensors of the substance, I just managed to move out of the way before another claw span passed, just scraping my shoulder and shedding more blood.

At this point that Guardians and Jamie ran forwards to try to help, but with a sharp wave of my hand my shed blood rose up and formed a barrier which I knew none of them would attempt to cross.

My brief moment of distraction cost me dearly. The fearling grasped my by the throat and lifted me into the air. I felt it's claws dig into my throat. Even more blood began to trickle down my neck.

SLASH! My scythe came out of nowhere and severed the arm of the fearling. I fell to the ground a didn't waste a second. My scythe was in my hand in an instant. I leapt into the air and brought down the scythe with the speed of a bullet. It pierced the fearling directly in the heart. It screamed and disintegrated. I landed on my feet, dropping the scythe in the process.

"Well that was under-dramatic," I said. I turned to the other Guardians and Jamie. The wall of blood had collapsed when the fearling had grabbed me by the throat. Jack smiled at me and I back at him.

I bent down, picked up my scythe... and screamed in agony, dropping it again. It was white hot in my hand. I looked down at the blade which was shining, not glowing, shining blood red. The crack in it's surface was burning white.

The crack spread across the entire scythe... and it shattered. The scythe became smithereens and the smithereens became dust and the dust became nothing. I knelt down down by where my scythe had been a moment ago. It had been so hot it had burned the grass around it. I gently caressed the area where the scythe had been.

How could this have happened? What could possibly have happened to traumatise the scythe so badly that it would die? "Death?" Jack whispered behind me. And suddenly I knew what or rather _who _was responsible.

"This is your fault," I whispered under my breath. "What?" Jack said in surprise. "THIS IS YOUR FAULT!" I screamed into his face and before he could react I sprinted forwards and clamped my hands around his throat.

"DEATH!" The Guardians screamed, but I took no notice. All my attention was crammed into an overwhelming desire to destroy the person whom had doomed my scythe.

BANG! An egg-bomb hit me in the side blasting me sideways. I swiveled round and ran straight back at Jack, but this time he was ready. He put his shoulder directly into my solar plexus, catapulting me over his head. I was also prepared however. I grabbed Jack's arms and threw him over my head. He fell backwards. I jumped to my feet and charged at Jack whom was spread-eagle on the ground. He tried to pull himself backwards away from me.

Within a second, four pairs of hand were grasping my body. Jamie had run up to Jack, the corner of whose mouth was bleeding.

"**STOP**" North bellowed, but I was too enraged to take any notice. "What do you mean 'it's Jack's fault?'" I finally calmed down just enough to tell them. "It was Jack's touch on the scythe. If it was used by anyone except myself, it was programmed to self-destruct. Jack only touched it. It wasn't enough to destroy it, but it was enough to traumatise it. Every time it was used, it became more and more unstable."

Jack looked ever so slightly ashamed. I glared daggers at him. "That scythe was as important to me as your staff is to you Jack," I said renching myself free of the Guardians. "Maybe you should feel what I am." Before anyone could react, I had sprinted forwards, grabbed Jack's staff and leapt up into a nearby tree.

"Give that back!" Jack roared. "HA!" I yelled. I held the staff horizontally on my hands. "Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, but Jack is nothing without his stick," I sang tauntingly... and I snapped Jack's staff into two.

The gasps echoed around the copse. Jack stared as I threw the fragments to the ground. "You didn't have to do that," Bunny whispered. "Didn't I?" I asked sarcastically. "I told you before, I cannot be a Guardian. I just don't care." I turned to Jack. **"JACKSON OVERLAND FROST, THIS IS YOUR LIFE!" **I roared in my deep voice.

I took out Jack's hourglass and threw it to the ground. Before it hit Jack jumped forwards, an expression of absolute terror on his face. He just managed to catch it by the tips of his fingers. I laughed. Jack in terror brought ecstacy to me.

Bunny jumped forwards in rage, but I simply hit him hard in the solar plexus. "I'm leaving," I said to North, "And when you next see the Man in the Moon, tell him to FUCK OFF!" I snapped my fingers, leapt into the air and landed on Mildred's back and she charged off into the sky.


	17. Chapter 16: Remember

Chapter 16: Remember

_Jack looked up at the retreating figure of Death and Mildred. He glared in anger, but found it difficult to hide a tear. He picked up the pieces of his staff, held them together and his powers of ice fused the pieces together._

_"I was right about him all the time," Bunnymund said snarling, "He's a coward and a deceiving bastard. All he cares about is himself." North stared at the speck of black in the sky, a frown crossing face. Then he said, angrily "You're right Bunny. MiM was wrong, Death can never be Guardian." Sandy nodded, an expression similar to North's on his face._

_"I could never have believed he could have done something like that, but it seems I over-estimated him," Tooth said, hanging her head with a mixture of anger and disappointment._

_"Jack?" Jamie said tentatively. A tear slid down Jack's face. He screwed his eyes shut and shook the tear away. Fury boiled in his veins. All he was able to say, between clenched teeth, was "I hate you." He turned away from the dark silhouette against the morning sky with eyes full of rage._

_"I told you Jack," the voice of Pitch said within his head. "I told you. He HATES you." Jack closed his eyes, a tear gently trickling from the corner of his eye. "You're right Pitch" he whispered._

* * *

I sat in the gardens of the house, on a bench by the fountain, watching the water flowing slowly over the edge.

I still felt rage filling my blood vessels with heat. I loathed Jack more so than I had ever loathed anyone before. I still felt a rush of adrenaline, but I knew however that I couldn't carry on like this for long.

The destruction of my scythe had left me weak and feeble. I was feeling tired. I rose to my feet staggered into the house, headed up the stairs, across the landing and into my bedroom. Like the rest of the house, it was painted black with bone motif.

Amelia Arronsone was straightening cushions. She'd fallen out of the the world and into my domain many years ago and couldn't get back. After some reluctance, she'd agreed to become a butler for me. In return I gave her time enough to return to Earth at weekends to go shopping for essentials. She seemed to be quite an expert at cooking fried foods.

"Everything alright m'lord?" She asked at the sight of my enraged expression. "No Amelia everything is not alright." I sat down heavily on the bed, reached underneath it, tugged out a bottle of whisky, pulled the cork out with my teeth, spat the cork across the room and took a massive swig.

After three consecutive gulps of the liquid, I finally lowered the bottle from my lips. Amelia sat down next to me. "My scythe has been destroyed," I told her in a slightly slurred voice. Alcohol affects me much faster than everyone else. She gasped. "But without your scythe, I thought you'd..." "Yes, I'm powerless." I looked out of the window at the distant mountains bordering the edge of my domain. They were fading. "And my domain is going with me."

I took another swig. "Well I suppose you can give Mildred a feed an then you can just go." She looked puzzled. "Go?" "Yes go. I've been made redundant and thereby so have you." Amelia looked shocked. "I can go?" "Yes and you don't have to come back. There's plenty of money in the safe, take as much as you need."

* * *

2 hours later...

I looked out of the window at Amelia. I had instructed Mildred to take Amelia back to the world. She hoisted herself onto the horse's back and they set off into the sky. For a moment they were a single glowing, green gem among the stars, but with a wobbling effect, they vanished.

I lay down on the black, silk sheets of the bed and was asleep within minutes.

And the dream I had, changed my life.

I could see the volcanic island from my dreams and visions. My scythe faded into existence behind it. The image changed. I could see Jack's face. He looked angry and disappointed. Jack's face became Pitch's who began to laugh a high, cruel, cold laugh.

Pitch's face became the face of a little girl. She had long, black hair, a small button nose and deep blue eyes. She looked terrified. A tear was beginning to form at the edge of her eye. "I'm scared," she said. Her face vanished to be replaced by a massive roaring of fire.

The dream changed again.

I was floating in the library. The bookcases towered up above me into the dark and gloom high above me. I was shooting past the bookcases and came up to a large oaken door. It had neither a handle or a knocker. The door creaked open. On the other side was an empty room... or almost empty. In the dead centre was a large stone pedestal carved with skeletal motif. On the pedestal was a massive, leather-bound book. The name inlaid with gold on the front cover read "Azarel."

My eyes snapped open. Was that book the answer to everything?

I jumped off the bed, sprinted out of the room, ran down the stairs, dashed across the hall and entered the library. Very slowly, I began to walk past the shelves of books. After what felt like an hour, I was standing outside the oak door. I pressed my hand to the place where a handle ought to be and the door swung gently open.

There was the book. I stepped up to it. The name Azarel glinted up at me. _Azarel?_ That name seemed familiar to me. I reached out my hand to open the book, but suddenly, as if caught in a powerful wind, the book opened and the pages blew over until stopping at a particular passage. I bent over the book and began to read.

* * *

_Azarel plays with his sister by the forest edge. Azarel trips over and his sister jumps on top of him. "Gotcha" she laughs. "Be gentle with me Kali," Azarel says pulling himself to his feet. Kali cuddles his waist, resting her head on his thorax._

_"I love you Azarel" she says. "And I love you too Kali" says Azarel embracing her back. Kali stands in silence for a moment and then asks "Azarel, what exactly is love?" "That's and interesting question," Azarel says. "I suppose you could say that love is the force that scares darkness away. It binds people together so that they are never seperate." "I love you," Kali says again "And we'll always be together won't we?" Azarel opens his mouth to respond, but a sudden Earth-tremor knocks them both to the ground._

_Azarel looks up to the volcano and sees a cloud of ash rise into the sky. The volcano is erupting. As fast as he can, Azarel grabs Kali's hand and starts to run with her back towards the village. "We have to get back to mother and father," Azarel shouts over the sounds of the noise of the volcano._

_Kali is crying. "I'm scared" she screams. "So am I" Azarel says,"But we must not let the fear stop us. If we can get back to the village, we'll be able to get a canoe out of here."_

_A massive explosion knocks them back to the ground. Kali hits her head and becomes concussed. Azarel scoops her into his arms and continues to run. Kali returns to conciousness. Trees suddenly are knocked to the ground, blocking Azarel's path. Halfway through the forest, Azarel encounters a river of lava passing through the forest ahead of him._

_"I can't jump that," Kali says. "I can," Azarel says, "Just hold on tight to me." Azarel hold his sister in his arms and takes a running jump over the lava river. Azarel almost reaches to opposite bank, when his feet land in the lava. He screams, but manages to drop Kali on the opposite bank. She turns to him._

_"AZAREL!" "Just go," Azarel demands of his sister, tears of pain streaming down his face. "I can't just leave you here, you'll die." "We'll both die if you stay now GO!" Tears of panic are streaming down Kali's face. She takes a step towards him, but Azarel lashes out and Kali backs away. "JUST GO!" he screams._

_Kali, her face tear-streaked, turns and runs away in the direction of the village. Before vanishing into the forest, she looks back at her brother. "GO!" he yells. Kali shuts her eyes and disappears into the forest._

_Azarel attempts to pull his burning legs out of the lava river. He just manages it. He tries to pull himself forwards. A volcanic bomb strikes the forest ahead of him and explodes, sending shards of burning rock and wood spinning in every direction. Azarel covers his head, but is knocked unconscious._

_When Azarel awakes five minutes later, he can see a line of canoes on the horizon. He knows his sister must be on one of them. He continues his fruitless attempts to pull himself forwards. A massive explosion sounds overhead. Looking towards the volcano, Azarel sees a massive pyroclastic flow surging down the mountain side. Azarel knows he is about to die. He closes his eyes and buries his head in his hands. The pyroclastic flow envelopes him. Azarel dies._

* * *

I stared at the last two words. Azarel dies? "But he can't die," I said outloud, "There's an entire book still to go." I turned the page and was surprised to find that the writing continued.

* * *

_Azarel awakes. His body is whole and undamaged. Azarel pulls himself to his feet and looks around. The forest is no more. Only ash and rock remain of the island. Azarel doesn't know who he is or where he is. He has no recollection of family or even of his name._

_Azarel walks across the ravaged island. He sees a beach ahead. It has somehow survived the eruption. Azarel walks across the black sands of the beach. He looks towards the horizon. He sees a dark sky and an ash choked ocean. Though he doesn't know it, Azarel is standing next to the site of the village._

_Azarel walks forward while surveying the scene around him. He then looks up. High above him is a gap in the through the gap is the full moon. Azarel stares at it. His foot hits something hard in the sand. He looks down. A wooden handle sticks out of the ground._

_Azarel leans down and tugs it out. It is a scythe. He taps the tip and it flashes deep blue. A wave of silence echos outwards from it. Azarel gives the scythe an experimental swish. A trail of violet sparks are left in it's wake._

_Azarel looks up. A dead figure of a man is floating in the waves just off-shore. Azarel steps towards it. As if by instinct, he waves the scythe over the body of the man. The spirit of the man rises out of the body and disappears into the sky._

_Azarel hears a snort behind him. He turns and sees a massive, pale green horse. It nuzzles his arm gently. Azarel climbs onto it's back and together they rush away into the volcanic night._

* * *

I stared at this part of the book. Then I re-read it. Then I re-read it again. Could this mean...? The pages of the book began to blow. It stopped suddenly. I bent down and read...

* * *

_Azarel reads the truth about his life in the book. He is filled with a strange mixture of emotions. He has discovered his past. He is not Death; he is Azarel._

* * *

I looked up from the book. A tear sled down my cheek and dropped onto the paper. I wasn't Death. I was Azarel. "I AM AZAREL!" I screamed in ecstasy. I had a past and a family.

I sprinted out of the annexe, through the library, across the hall and back into the grounds. Mildred had returned. I leapt onto her back. "HYA!" I yelled and she sprinted off into the sky.

We shot down through the clouds heading for the Pacific ocean.

After ten minutes of flying across the sea, I saw on the horizon the silhouette of an island with a mountain protruding from the top.

Mildred touched down on the sands of the beach. I clambered off her back and looked around. The island had barely changed. It was still a barren waste. Life hadn't returned. I looked up and saw that the volcano was still smoking. It seemed that it had been erupting almost continually since that fateful day, making the return of life as good as impossible.

I walked across the sands of the beach.

My mind began to stretch backwards through time. I saw the island as it had been. I saw the village. Little children were playing by the water. Mothers were standing by the hut, weaving cloths. Fathers had returned from fishing. I turned and saw a little girl and a tall teenage boy. The girl jumped into the boys arms, laughing.

The boy turned and I saw the face... of myself.

This was a different boy. His face was full of laughter and happiness. He had not a care in the world. He had a proud father, a doting mother and a loving sister.

Me and my sister went and played in the waters almost everyday. Sometimes we played hide-and-seek in the forest. Wait? How did I know that?

In the space of a second, all of my memories came flooding back. I could remember. I remembered how much my mother cared for me, how my father protected me, how my sister loved me... and how I loved them.

I found myself sobbing on the sands of the beach. I opened my eyes and saw a glint of silver in the sands below me. I reached down and dusted the sand aside. A long blade lay there. I picked it up and pulled. A long wooded handle came out of the sand with it. My eyes widened.

It was a scythe.

As if by instinct, I held it out and swung it in a sharp circle. A wave of violet light shot outwards from the blade. It was mine. I was filled with hope and ecstasy.

I heard a rumble and looked over my shoulder. A massive silver shape rose out of the volcano. For a moment I thought it was erupting, but then I realised that it was the soul of the volcano. The smoke stopped rising from the mouth of the volcano. The volcano was now dead... and that meant that life could return to the island without fear of destruction.

All of a sudden, I knew the answer.

All of the Guardians had centers. North was the Guardian of wonder. Every Christmas, he delivered presents for every child on the planet. The present the children found the next morning filled them with wonder.

Bunnymund was responsible for hope. Bunny delivered painted eggs. Inside and egg is a developing new life and new life brings new hope.

Tooth was the Guardian of Memories. The teeth she and her fairies collected contained the most important memories of childhood. It was her responsibility to guard them.

Sandy was obviously the Guardian of dreams. Aside from delivering good dreams to all the sleeping children of the world, he also ensured that nightmares were kept at bay.

I knew that Jack was the master of fun. The snow days he created brought snowball fights, igloo building and snowman making. All children found this fun and even more so when Jack joined in.

My centre... was life.

I took away life, it was true, but in doing so I made room for more life. The life of the volcano had inhibited all other life, but the removal of the volcano meant that finally life could spread once more. That was my duty. I was the Guardian of life.

I stared towards the setting sun and screamed at the top of my voice "I AM AZAREL DEATH!"

My heart was bursting with joy.

Suddenly a vision of the skies above Burgess flashed across my mind. The Guardians were battling Pitch and his Nightmares. I saw Pitch draw an arrow and aim it at Sandy. He released it. Jack flew in the way to stop it striking Sandy. It pierced his heart.

My eyes opened. This was it. Tonight... the battle would begin. I needed to return to the Guardians. I leapt onto Mildred's back and shouted "TO THE NORTH POLE, AS FAST AS LIGHTNING!" Mildred shrieked and sprinted into the sky. The world blurred.


	18. Chapter 17: The Battle of Burgess

Chapter 17: The Battle of Burgess

With a flash, Mildred re-entered reality. I opened my eyes and saw the North Pole. I had never been so glad to see it in my life. Mildred charged into the sleigh dock and almost crashed into a Yeti who was busy cleaning out the stalls. He screamed. I jumped off Mildred's back who immediately began to chew on some hay which had just been place in the stall for the convenience of the Reindeer.

"**WORRBWWLERRWWBBLLLWW!" **the yeti roared in the ancient language of the Yeti's. I can understand every language however, so for the convenience of yourself, I will translate. **"What are you doing here? The master said you were banished!" **"Did he now?" I said. A pang of guilt and shame boiled in my stomach. How could I ever approach the Guardians again after what had happened? And most importantely of all, would Jack ever find the capacity to forgive me?

"Begone, or I'll call for..."

"Oh do shut up!" I said. I was in no mood to be messed with. "Where have the Guardians gone?" I asked. **"You think I'll tell you after you spoke to me like that? I think n..." **the Yeti began to say, but he quickly withered under the penetrating gaze I gave upon him. "I will ask again," I said, **"****WHERE HAVE THEY GONE?****"** The Yeti cowered under the voice I gave. All of a sudden **"I don't know exactly where, but they said that they were going to a town called Burger or something?" **"BURGESS!" I exclaimed.

I was too late! The Guardians had already departed. I was going to have to act fast to catch up with them and to save Jack.

Before the Yeti could do anything, I jumped back onto Mildred's back. She gave a massive whinny, reared up on her hind legs and sprinted back into the sky. It would take a while to get to Burgess. The journey from my old home to the North Pole at such speeds had exhausted her so we were going to have to travel at much slower speeds in order to get to Burgess.

I was starting to panic. What if I was too late?

* * *

_Ten minutes ago..._

_"So, we meet again Jack," Pitch said, advancing on the boy standing in front of him. "I have missed you since you last came to visit." Jack clutched his staff and aimed it straight at the grey face of Pitch. "That'll be my last visit, Pitch," Jack snarled, trying to sound strong, but knowing it was an empty threat._

_Pitch laughed. "No matter how much you try, you can't hide your fears from me," Pitch said in a voice barely above a whisper. "I don't have any fears," Jack lied._

_"Don't lie to me, Jack. I know your fears. I know you fear... that you will never see Death again." "DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT HIM!" Jack roared, suddenly enraged._

_Pitch cackled. "I HATE HIM!" Jack yelled, his hands clasped over his ears. When he looked back at Pitch, he found the horrid, grey flesh barely inches from his own. They stared into each others eyes; blue into yellow._

_All of a sudden there was a sound like a whip-crack and Pitch was tugged backwards, into the air. Coiled around his waist was a dream-sand whip. As Pitch was flung upwards, Jack saw Sandy holding the other end._

_With a quick movement of his arms, Sandy brought the whip crashing down into the street below, pulling Pitch with it. He slammed into the pavement with a sickening slam. Jack smiled at Sandy who was dusting off his hands. "So many reasons not to get on your bad side." Sandy smiled._

_Sandy and Jack jumped down from the top of the building into the street below. Pitch was trying to back away from Sandy. "Now, now Sandy, keep calm, let's not have any unpleasantness," Pitch said, crawling away on his back. Sandy conjured his dream-sand whips. Pitch betrayed a tiny flicker of fear._

_"Please Sandy. You can't blame me for just trying to me noticed," Pitch whimpered, pulling himself backwards. Sandy produced a few images over his head that sort of said, "Don't waste my time with sob stories." Pitch raised his hands in an apologizing manner. Jack raised his eyebrows. Pitch was up to something._

_"Yes, I'm sorry Sandy," Pitch babbled, climbing to his feet. Jack was really starting to get suspicious. Pitch raised his hands in defeat. "I apologize. I apologize to you, to Jack," he said, gesturing to them both in turn. "And to young Jamie," he continued, pointing to behind them. "Jamie!" Jack said in alarm. He and Sandy turned, but there was no one there. It was in that millisecond that Jack and Sandy suddenly realised their mistake._

_"HA!" Pitch roared with laughter. Jack and Sandy turned around just in time to be swept into the air by a tsunami of black sand._

_Jack couldn't breathe. The black sand was forcing it's way into his lungs, cutting off his air supply. He struggled, but he had too little energy to do so. His vision began to cloud. He felt like he was drowning again. His heart began to pound with panic._

_All of a sudden, the black cloud vanished. Jack was so stunned that he dropped a few meters before pulling himself back into the air. He turned and saw Bunnymund grinning at him. "I'd duck if I were you Frostbite." Jack did so, just avoiding a boomerang that soared over his head and into Bunny's waiting paw._

_Jack looked over his shoulder and saw Sandy waving at him from just behind the sleigh. Jack waved back. He then grabbed his staff and jumped back into the sky. A swarm of fearlings shot towards him, but with a quick ice blast, all seven of them were sent to oblivion._

_Several egg-bombs whizzed past his face and struck a battalion of fearlings which burst into dust. Tooth and her mini-fairies flew. There was a "fwoomp" sound every time she struck a fearling. The sleigh and it's rider (namely North) shot through the clouds, swiping with his swords. Higher in the sky was Sandy, his dream-sand whips moving so fast that they were little more than a golden blur._

_Jack sped through the air. A vast crackle of freezing air followed him. Every now and then, with a little twist of his staff, the frozen air would shot ahead of him deep-freezing any fearling too foolish not to get out of the way in time._

_The sleigh shot past again. Jack bounced off of it'd flanks and sped at incredible speeds in the opposite direction. He looked like an icy comet whizzing through the air like a jump-jet._

_A massive horde of fearlings charged forward. Jack span around in every direction, firing snow and ice in every direction. The nightmares were being forced backwards, but Jack was quickly getting tired. No matter how many fearlings he took down, there were at least ten more left to take it's place._

_Jack was becoming exhausted. Every attack he gave was weaker than the last. The fearlings were becoming excited. They knew Jack was becoming vulnerable._

_Jack was completely out of energy. His body went slightly limp. A mass of nightmare sand bound his arms and legs. He couldn't move. He looked up and saw Pitch. He was grinning evilly. He conjured his axe and raised it above his head._

_Jack felt tears begin to well up within his eyes. He was going to die._

_WHOOSH! A pale green blur shot past, smashing Pitch's axe and blasting away the nightmare cloud. Pitch and Jack were stunned._

_They looked up at the shape which was little more than a dense, green cloud. The cloud hovered closer and a figure became visible within it's heart. The tall, pale figure had dark, dishevelled hair and brilliantly blue eyes. "You!" Jack whispered._

_Death spoke, just loud enough for Jack and Pitch to hear. "Get away from my boyfriend."_

* * *

Before Pitch could react, I punched him hard in the jaw so hard that his skin split. He roared in pain and fell from the sky. Shaking Pitch's blood off my hand, I turned to Jack who didn't seem to know how to react. "Jack," I began, but I didn't know what to say.

Jack raised his eyebrow at me. "Caught on have you(?)" He said bitterly, looking very displeased. "Took you long enough." I suddenly burst out "I was a fool. I was a stubborn prat. I was..." "A duty disowning, self-centered, uncaring twat?" Jack finished. I hung my head. "Yes." Jack put his hand under my chin and tilted my head up so he could look into my eyes. He smiled at me. "Can I just say, that I don't give a damn." I felt stunned. "How can you forgive me so easily?" "You just saved my life and you came back for me, how could I not forgive you."

Two fearlings shot towards us. Jack froze one with a blast of ice. I sliced the second one open with a slash of my scythe. The fragments of nightmare sand blew away on the wind. "Just like old times!" I laughed.

The green cloud turned back into Mildred and we shot off to join the battle. I could see Tooth in the distance. She was surrounded by fearlings. Several of them had swallowed the majority of her mini-fairies. You could see them screaming in the bellies of the beasts.

I felt rage boil up in my stomach. I shot towards them. A slash of my scythe released an energy shockwave that smashed apart the unfortunate fearlings. The mini-fairies were released. Tooth turned and gasped when she saw me. "You," she gasped. "Need any more help?" I asked. She shook her head. "Come on Tooth," I said "Or all of the good targets will be taken." A grin spread across her face and we shot off to join the fray.

The next person in danger was Sandy. He had collapsed onto his dream-sand cloud, fearlings surrounding him. He certainly looked exhausted. With a CRACK, the death-whip cut straight through their flanks. Sandy looked up at me in amazement. "Alright, Mr Sandman?" I said, smiling. Sandy beamed, several dreamsand images floating over his head.

I heard a yell. Looking over my shoulder, I could see that Bunny and North were surrounded. Though they were fighting hard, the nightmares were overwhelming them. I jumped onto the sleigh and they turned to face me. They looked shocked. I took out the sickles and threw them into the sky, just like Bunny's boomerangs. They sliced apart the advancing nightmares. The sand blew away on the wind. I grabbed the sickles as they flew back into my hands and turned to face the two Guardians.

North was the first to recover. He beamed at me. "Returned to work?" he asked jocularly. "Yep," no rest for the wicked," I said. North's smile grew wider. "Trouble is, I'm one of the good guys and right now I need a siesta," I continued, lying down on the seats. North actually laughed. Bunny however, still seemed highly biased against me. I smiled weakly at him.

I sat up... saw a sight that made my heart cease it's beats. Pitch was drawing an arrow and was aiming it at Sandy's back. "No," I whispered. Jack turned and saw the nightmare king preparing to attack. "No" I said louder. Jack shot forward. "NO!" I yelled and leapt into the air.

Pitch released the arrow. Jack had just placed himself between Sandy and the arrow. I couldn't let this happen. I shot forwards. The arrow was meters from Jack. I shoved him out of the way.

The arrow struck me in the heart.

I felt strange. A mixture of pain and confusion was filling my body. I could hear Jack shouting "NO!" I could see in the distance Tooth, North and Bunny turning to face me. They looked horrified, even Bunny. I could also see and hear Pitch laughing. I looked down. Streams of blood and nightmare-sand were seeping across my body.

I looked back up. I felt a trickle of blood ran out of the corner of my mouth. "Oh," I said in a rather surprised voice... and I fell... down... down... down.

The world span around me. Clouds flew past. Lights from the town below were moving ever closer. A flash of silver span past. My scythe was falling with me. I held it in my hand. It felt reassuring. The trees were coming ever closer.

I hit the icy surface of the lake. My scythe clattered away. Blood was seeping across the frozen surface. This was me. The Grim Reaper; dying on the Icy surface of the lake. This was me.

The Icy Reaper.


	19. Chapter 18: Darkness and Death

_Chapter 18: Darkness and Death_

* * *

_"NOOOOO!" Jack wept, staring down at the place Death had fallen to. Sandy grasped his shoulder comfortingly. Pitch cackled._

_"You fucking monster!" Jack bellowed. He wrenched himself free from Sandy's grip and flew at Pitch who vanished in mid-air._

_"Have a bit of spirit left in you Jack?" came Pitch's voice. Jack whipped around and soared back towards the figure. He vanished again._

_"Come back you murderous bastard!" "Oh so you do care about him. I thought you said you HATED him?" Pitch said tauntingly, reappearing just above him._

_WHOOSH. A blast of ice shot through the air. Pitch waved his hand lazily and a small wave of fire melted the ice blast._

_"Have you forgotten Jack?" Pitch said. ZAP! A bolt of electricity caught Jack in the chest. He yelled and fell backwards. "Bad behaviour won't be tolerated." Jack ground his teeth, releasing tiny sparks of ice. Pitch cackled again._

_"But isn't interesting Jack that you would take your anger out on me rather than save your precious friend?" Jack's eyes widened. "Death," he whispered and shot downwards towards the ground, the Guardians following close behind._

* * *

_Jamie had been watching the sky battle from his bedroom window. He saw swarms of black sand and bright flashes of light. Jamie toyed with his pyjama cord nervously. All of a sudden, he saw a tiny black shape falling from the clouds. Jamie sat up straight in panic. The shape landed in the area around the frozen pond._

_Jamie leapt off the bed, snatched up his dressing gown and a pair of boots, pulled them on, opened his door and nearly collided with Sophie._

_"Sophie?! What are you doing?" His little sister stood there, clutching the soft, plush rabbit and looking up at Jamie with big eyes."Can't sleep," she said. "Go back to bed, I need to go out." "I wanna come with you," she said, her eyes becoming watery. "No Sophie, go back to bed," Jamie demanded. "No, I wanna come. If you don't let me, I'll get mommy."_

_She'd won. Jamie couldn't risk his mom being woken. "Fine," he said bitterly, "Come on then." They both tip-toed downstairs. Jamie made Sophie put on a coat and boots and they set off into the night._

_On the way Jamie gathered his friends, among them Cupcake and Pippa, and they all sped towards the lake._

* * *

_Jack flew down through the leaves of the trees. The twigs scratched against his skin causing minor bleeding, but Jack took no notice._

_He reached the lake's surface... which was deserted. A small pool of blood on the ice was the only sign that someone had fallen there. Jack hit the surface of the lake and began scrabbling around for any sign at all that Death was still around. Blood began to coat his hands. His hands found something long and thin. It was the scythe. He dropped it immediately, remembering what happened last time._

_He began running through the surrounding forest searching as hard as he could. Tears were running down his cheeks. He ran back to the lake. "DEATH!" he screamed, "WHERE ARE YOU?" Jack continued to cry out for Death for ten minutes, but the cries became weaker and weaker until they dissolved into sobs._

_A soft paw rested on his shoulder. Jack looked up through tear-choked eyes into the face of Bunnymund. He looked devastated. A tear slid down his fur and splashed onto the ground. Jack jumped to his feet and hugged Bunny. Bunny gently patted him on the back. "I know. He was a good friend to you." "You don't know the half of it," Jack thought._

_He opened his eyes. Tooth, North and Sandy were standing behind Bunny. They were holding candles. At their feet was a small stone tile with a depiction of Death carved on it. More candles were placed around it. Jack shook his head. "No," he moaned, "He can't be... He can't...He is..." but he found himself unable to speak to word "dead."_

_Jack picked up a candle. He clutched it like it was his last lifeline. Tears began to fall thick and fast. North began to chant a low, mournful song in the ancient language of the Yeti's. Jack buried his head in Bunny's fur. Even Tooth had lost her buzz. Jack remembered the funeral for Sandy when it seemed he had been killed. This was even worse._

_Footsteps came from behind a patch of nearby trees. Jack looked up hopefully, but it wasn't Death. It was Jamie, Sophie and their friends. Jack had never been less pleased to see them. Jamie smiled at Jack when he saw him, but the smile vanished when he saw the expression on Jack's face. "What...?" he began, but Bunny answered before the question was finished. "Death is dead."_

_Jack kneeled down by the tile and stroked it gently, fresh tears falling from his eyes. "Who's Death?" one of the kids asked. "The Grim Reaper," Tooth said. Jack breathed in a shaky breath. "He saved all of our lives. He sacrificed himself for us." Jamie and Sophie knelt down by Jack. Jamie put his hand on Jack's shoulder._

_"Aww, how awful. For you anyway," came a tantalizing voice. Jack stood up and turned slowly to face the nightmare king. "You killed him," Jack said. He was so angry, but at the same time so full of grief that he couldn't say anything else. "Yes, I did. Many would say that killing Death was impossible, but we both know now that that is not true," Pitch sneered._

_Jack stepped forward. The Guardians and the two kids looked concerned. "Well, what do you want?" Jack asked. Pitch smiled. "That's quite a simple question to ask and an even simpler question to answer." "And the answer is?" Jack asked. "I want... your life," Pitch said his voice quivering with delight. Jack heard gasps behind him. "And in return," Pitch continued, "I will leave your friends and the entire world alone."_

_"JACK, NO!" Jamie yelled. "DON'T LISTEN TO HIM!" North shouted. More protests from the other Guardians joined Jamie and North's protests, but Jack just ignored them._

_Jack didn't want to risk anyone else dying because of him. This was the only way._

_"Yes Pitch. I agree."_

_Tiny gasps of "No!" issued from behind him. Pitch laughed. "Finally someone who knows when to accept a deal."_

_Nightmare sand ropes bound Jack's hands and feet . He was forced into a kneeling position. He looked up into the face of Pitch. Pitch conjured his axe and raised it above his head. A look of intense triumph and pleasure was etched onto his face._

_Jack stared up at the axe, waiting for the pain to begin._

_The axe soared down through the air._

_WHOOSH!_

_A roar of nightmare sand whooshed past. The ropes and axe disintegrated into a massive cloud of the black stuff. All of the Guardians and kids stared up at the cloud._

_The cloud span and formed a small table. On it was a small platter with tea-cups, a bowl of sugar cubes and a jug of milk. And hovering in a sitting position, pouring tea from a large pot into one of the cups was..._

_"Impossible," Pitch whispered. "D'ya wanna cuppa tea luv?" Death said, smiling down at them._

* * *

I smiled down at the figures below me. Pitch's expression was the most dumbfounded of them all.

"How the fuck did you survive that arrow?" he demanded. "Pitch, mind your language, there are kids present you know," I said gesturing to the gaggle of kids.

"In answer to your question," I continued, taking a sip from my cup, "when you tried to kill me, you forget one extremely important detail." "And what is that?" Pitch asked with his eyebrows raised. "I'm bloody Death! You can't kill Death. You might as well try to bite your own head off."

**Death: Guys, seriously don't try to bite your head off you might hurt someone.**

**Pitch: No actually don't, it's really dangerous.**

**Jack: Do you think we can get back to the story, these people want to know what happens next, not a lesson in health and safety.**

**Death: Yes Jack you're quite right. Where was I? Oh yes.**

"And after all, have I not meditated for hours on end in order to achieve inner peace. Have I not performed the greatest acts enlightenment to open my mind. I repel you and your nightmare sand. You Pitch are close-minded," I took another gulp of tea. "You're so certain of your superiority, you can't comprehend the fact that your a knob." Pitch went ballistic. "I AM NOT A NOB!" "Yeah, that's what you say, but you are a knob. You can't deny it."

SMASH! A nightmare sand arrow shot straight through my cup, smashing it to the five winds. Pitch snarled. "Do not antagonize me." I looked down at him, a mild expression of distaste on my face. "I hadn't finished that," I said lightly.

WHAM! Before Pitch knew what had happened, I brought my hand down in a karate chop so quickly that it actually became a little shorter and fatter. It caught Pitch right in the centre of his scalp. He wobbled on the spot and then fell backwards.

"Hello kids," I said smiling over at them. Unfortunately, all of the kids either looked scared or angry. "What did I do?" I asked. "You're the Grim Reaper. You kill people," the one called Cupcake said. "Actually I don't. I merely remove life when it is over so that I can make room for more life, because that..." I said looking over to the Guardians, "Is my center. Life is my center." Delight glimmered on the faces of the Guardians.

"Oh and I can also do this." I rose my hands and snapped my fingers. Blueish-white clouds appeared behind me. The resolved into cats, dogs and even a few old people. "Grandma?" The one call Pippa said, rushing forwards. "Lucky!" Cupcake squealed, bending down as one of the dogs rushed towards her and began licking her face. The kids ran forwards, reuniting themselves with their deceased family members.

"You see," I said, "I do care." "Bunnymund?" said a voice. Bunny turned... and saw his family. He rushed towards his wife and found he was able to touch her. I could hear him crying with happiness.

I looked at Jack. "I think that there's someone who want's to talk to you."

Jack felt a tug at his sleeve. Looking down he saw... his sister. "Jack," she said, lifting her arms. Jack picked her up and carried her on his shoulders. I saw tears running down his face. He looked at me. "Thank you," he said, his voice reduced to a throaty whisper.

WHOOSH! The wispy figures vanished. The kids, the Guardians and myself turned to see Pitch scrambling back to his feet. He looked dazed but triumphant. "You still think you can beat me?" He asked. "I still hold the ace."

Within the house of death, a vast cloud of nightmare sand rushed up... and covered the hourglass of Tsar Lunar... The Man in the Moon.

I heard screams of pain from behind me. Whipping around, I saw that North, Tooth, Jack, Bunny and Sandy had collapsed onto the ground, clutching their heads in pain. The kids looked shocked and scared. A red light washed over the ground. I looked up to the sky. The Moon was blood red.

"So it is you Pitch," I said breathlessly. Pitch smiled at me. "For centuries the Moon dominated us, but now I dominate the Moon." Pitch screamed with laughter, raising his arms in triumph. "Don't you see?" He said. "We are unique. Neither of us are bound by the Moon. Why don't you join me. There is only one thing that goes together better than Cold and Dark. Dark and Death." "I will never join you Pitch," I snarled. My blue eyes began to glow red.

"So it ends this way," Pitch sighed. His hands produced a ball of fire. "Sorry it has to end like this. An ordinary death for such an extraordinary person." WHOOSH! The fireball sailed towards me. "LOOK OUT!" Jack screamed. I raised my arm in a futile attempt to protect myself. There was another WHOOSH! I opened my eyes. A wall of water had risen out of the lake. I stared in amazement. I lowered my arm. The wall of water collapsed. Pitch stared in incredulity.

It suddenly made sense. I was the Guardian of life and what does life need more than anything else: Water.

"HA!" I yelled. Moving my hands in a whip-life movement, a water-whip sprang into my hand. Pitch yelled as I struck. The water had been pressurized so much that when Pitch ducked and the whip sailed over his head, it cut clean through a boulder as big as North. I began to spin my arms. Pin-wheels of pressurized water span towards Pitch. He just managed to dodge them and they sliced through the trees and rock behind him.

I twisted and a mass of water smashed into Pitch. He yelled and was forced backwards. He smashed into the ground, soaked to the skin.

The black sand surrounding MiM's hourglass dissolved.

The moon glowed white high in the sky. The Guardians pulled themselves back to their feet. Their strengths were restored. Jack looked at me with a wide, toothy grin.

I looked back at Pitch. "No electricity. I thought you were a bit more powerful than this," I said tauntingly. Pitch pulled himself to his feet and snarled. "I'll show you power," he roared. He looked really quite deranged now. He began to move his hands in fast circles. Lines of electricity flew around him. The lines became thicker and brighter. The crackling they made became louder. Pitch paused and looked at me... and then looked over my shoulder.

He smiled and shot the bolt of lightning... past me. I turned in amazement which turned to terror. The electricity had missed me because Pitch wasn't aiming at me. He was aiming... at Jack. There wasn't time. Jack screamed, was flung back through the air, slammed into a tree, slid to the ground... and moved no more.


	20. Chapter 19: The Finale

Chapter 19: The Finale

**Written in a hurry and a bit of a panic.**

**Please be gentle with reviews.**

* * *

I stood there, staring at Jack. His body was as still as marble. All of us, the Guardians, the kids, Pitch and myself were just staring at Jack's lifeless body. All of a sudden, there was a crackle. Residual electricity snapped across Jack's body and he twitched horribly. "JACK!" I yelled, sprinting towards the winter spirit.

With a blast, a wave of nightmare sand picked me up and slammed me into a rock. I turned to Pitch who was laughing again. "Did you really think you could outwit me?" he cackled. Nightmares charged out of the forest, straight towards me.

I was surrounded. The only way was up. I pulled out the Death-whip, aimed it upwards and it wrapped around a branch. A quick tug and I was pulled into the air. I was shooting upwards into the canopy. I looked down. The nightmares were still following me upwards. I reached the tree-tops and ran across the branches.

The nightmares were gaining on me. I held the whip and began to spin in a sharp circle, taking out the nightmares. CRACK! An arrow fired from below and smashed the branch I was standing on. I fell back toward the ground. Groaning, I looked up. Pitch stood over me.

A ball of lightning appeared in his palm.

"Well, you've been a thorn in my side for too long now. I can't say I approve. So why don't you just surrender?" The bolt of lightning flew out of Pitch's hand and struck the ground. I had avoided it because I had leapt into the air. My scythe span into my hand.

"It's over now Pitch. You're finished." My scythe span and released a wave of pure energy. Pitch conjured a disc of fire large enough to cover his body. When the energy wave made contact, it glowed green, and vanished with a flash. Pitch cackled. "You mock and fight me. I don't know which is the more feeble. However, if you don't retreat right now, I'll unleash the Nightmare curse. Ah Ha, ha, ha!"

I looked down. My shadow was pulled from under my feet, towards the Nightmare king. The shadows of the forest trees were sucked into the spiraling vortex of blackness. Out of the blackness stepped a massive figure as tall as the tree canopy. Pitch laughed even shriller.

"What's this trick Pitch? I'm still not impressed," I said with my arms crossed. "You're evil and now you're huge, but you know, that will just makes it much more worthwhile to see the giant fall!" I crossed my forearms and the trees behind Pitch collapsed down on top him, crushing him under their mass. For a brief moment, it looked like I'd won, but the trees splintered and the scarred and bleeding form of Pitch rose into the, no longer smiling.

"All you do is talk, but I must warn you now, prepare yourself for terror." He raised his arms. "If I were you, I'd run away screaming because... my nightmares are in the air."A vast, solid mass of nightmare sand flew into the air and congealed into a thousand nightmare horses. They soared around me, but a quick spin on my scythe was more than enough to knock them into next century. I heard screams from behind me. Turning, I saw the Guardians and all of the kids bound with nightmare sand. I turned back to Pitch.

I brandished my scythe at Pitch again. "Pitch, release the children and the Guardians or else, I'll... I'll..." I tried to sound as threatening as possible but Pitch just laughed again. A rush of fire soared towards me. WHOOSH! A wall of solid ice materialized between myself and Pitch. The fire slammed into it and both vaporized.

I turned. Jack was standing behind me. He looked weak and was leaning on his staff for support, but he looked defiant. "Don't you dare!" he snarled at Pitch. Relief. Pure, undiluted relief swept through my body. I couldn't resist smiling. Jack smiled back at me.

I knew it rather than sensed it. I whipped around, leapt into the air and punched Pitch hard in his solar plexus as he tried to use a sneak attack on me, and he doubled over, groaning. Jack ran back up to me. "How did you survive?" I asked. Jack lifted out his hourglass. He was holding it horizontally. "Jack, you're not allowed to do that," I said. Jack smiled mischievously.

"I'm still undefeated," came Pitch's voice. He pulled himself back to his feet. He was still in his massive size. "I am the Nightmare King. I am the master of darkness itself." Me and Jack assumed fighting stances, but I knew we couldn't do it. Pitch was right. How were we supposed to beat Pitch, the master of Nightmares, at the height of his power?

A bolt of lightning struck the ground that mere seconds previously had been where we were standing.

Jack stood next to me. We looked into each others eyes. I felt my love for Jack bloom like a light... and then the solution came to me.

Back when I was Azarel, I had told my sister that love was the force that scared the darkness away. I loved Jack. Maybe...

Pitch began to move towards us. Tendrils of Nightmare sand were snaking towards us.

I looked Jack full in the face. Pitch was mere feet away.

"Jack," I said, "In case we don't manage to get out of this, I need to tell you something." Jack looked confused. "What?" he asked. I held his hand. He looked shocked. And I spoke the words that changed my life, just loud enough for Jack and Pitch to hear.

"I love you."

Jack stared into my eyes. A tear began to form in his left eye. Had either of us been looking, we would have seen Pitch's form wobble and waver.

Jack gently squeezed my hand. He smiled gently at me. "I love you too," he said.

What happened next was impossible to describe accurately. I suppose you could say that a pure white light blossomed from between our clasped hands. It grew so bright we had to shut our eyes.

It almost wasn't a light, it seemed far too solid, too tangible. I felt a strange energy surging through mine and Jack's hands.

I could hear the Guardians gasp, the kids whisper in amazement and Pitch scream in pain.

After a whole minute the light faded. For ten seconds me and Jack stared into each others eyes. The we both turned defiant to face the shrunken Nightmare King. He scrambled away from us.

"Keep away from me," he whimpered. I stepped forward and stood over Pitch. He looked nothing short of petrified. I spoke in the deep voice, so perfectly refined Pitch literally began to cower. **"KOZMOTIS PITCHINER, THIS IS YOUR LIFE!" **I raised my hands and Pitch's hourglass appeared in my palms. In the space of a second, before anyone could react, I threw it to the ground.

It shattered.

I looked at Pitch. He stared at me... and then he dissolved. His entire body seemed to deteriorate into a mass of grey and black sand which began to blow away on the wind. The ghostly traces of his yellow eyes were the last parts to vanish.

I picked up a handful of the sand and let it fall through my fingers. I turned to look at Jack... and we ran into each others arms and our lips met in a passionate embrace.

We turned gently on the spot, feeling ecstasy blossoming in our hearts.

We suddenly heard a polite cough. It was at this point we both remembered where we were. We slowly prized apart.

Sandy had conjured a golden screen to prevent the kids from seeing. Tooth was staring in stunned disbelief a faint look of disappointment on her face. A mortified Bunnymund was also staring at us, a small muscle twitching under his left eye. North was looking blank. Both me and Jack blushed scarlet.

"If you have to do that, do in private," North said. Me and Jack smiled.

It was all good.

* * *

**Planning on doing a few drabbles about Jack and Death's relationship in the following days.**

**And remember to review. I'd like as much feedback as possible.**


	21. Author's Note

**Author's note.**

**That's this story over.**

**However I am writing a sequel "Mammy Nature's Boys."**

**This will be Humor/Family centered.**

**Jack and Death's relationship will encounter new horizons.**

**And yes there will be sex. ;)**

**First chapter published.**

**Any other suggestions will be welcome. To submit ideas, send a private message to me with your idea attached.**

**Remember to review.**

**With best wishes**

**SquamousEpithelium**


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